Tendring Council urged to rethink beach ban for horse riders

Though not a horserider, I can think of no more wonderful and inspiring sight than that of horses being ridden along our beach, it is what England and in particular Frinton is all about.

The freedom to do such things, with neither bye nor leave from anyone, is a true public liberty and an English birthright.

However Tendring Council, with the support of its two Frinton councillors Nick Turner (Conservative) and Terry Allen (Tendring First), has managed to have the by-laws manipulated to achieve this ban.

Where was the opportunity to protest about this, where was the consultation, where was the the publicity to enable us mere citizens to have our say?

Nowhere is the answer, it has just been done to us, not for us, without any widespread input from local people, and all that I have spoken to, love the sight of the horses and riders.

I hear that the Frinton Residents’ Association were complaining about horse mess, but so what? It is not disease ridden, the tide washes it away and I am sure a lot of their members dig it into their gardens on a regular basis.

Plus the many tons of mess left by the trippers throughout the summer makes a few bits of horse manure seem exceedingly inconsequential.

Has this been done because a few (and it will be very few) visitors have complained?

This, of course, raises the issue, is Frinton run for its citizens or for the hordes of trippers that contribute nothing and just cause inconvenience to the locals?

The financial impact of the trippers to Frinton’s run-down Connaught Avenue consisting largely of charity shops, estate agents and closed banks, must be minimal.

Of course if the commercial impact of “shopping” in Connaught Avenue was so over-riding, why did Mr Turner and Mr Allen support the dire “redevelopment” of Connaught Avenue, with the removal of the gorgeous trees, narrowing of the road, so now it is a constant traffic jam and the massive reduction of shoppers parking spaces?

I sincerely hope the council will reconsider this devastating and dictatorial action.

I also hope the local horseriders, including the charity that provides valuable and mentally-inspiring horse walking for those unfortunate enough to suffer from mental health problems, do not take this lying down.

As a first action I suggest they consider a mass attendance, on a suitable summer weekend, of horse-boxes and ride their horses up and down Connaught Avenue and along the Esplanade as a public protest, with the intention of causing as much disruption as possible.

A very large number of local residents are very disappointed with our local representatives - they only seem to represent their own opinions. The ballot box may be a place to start showing our discontent with these two.

David Evans

Cortoncroft Close,

Frinton

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