Bye-Laws are like marmite… you either love them or hate them!
That is the emerging position around a local beach issue at Rossglass as a growing lobby of beach users and supporters are starting to campaign for a freer use of the beach which stretches from the old church at Rossglass south to Tyrella beach.
Local bye-laws first proposed by the former Down District Council to tighten up movement on the beach have now been posted up at the beach entrance roads after being passed in 2014 and this has led the beach users and supporters  coming together and voicing their fundamental concerns. Many long-term beach users are shocked at the “severity of the restrictions” (as one local resident explained) of the new bye-laws.
Geraldine Doherty from Ballyhornan said: “When I was young we used to come regularly to Rossglass beach in the summers. And my own family too grew up here. Generations of families have enjoyed the beach and now we are faced with some significant limitations as to what we can do. This is a slippery slope to being blocked off altogether by the looks of it. People have been coming to Rossglass beach from far away to exercise their dogs on the beach and now they risk collecting a fine from the dog warden!
“I still come here occasionally and my friends are regular users of the beach and some live in the vicinity. It is part of their way of life.”
Local residents Rosie and Danny Keenan who live facing the Rossglass beach discussed some of the key issues. Rosie said: “There seems to be three main areas of issues that the residents and beach users are concerned about.
“Firstly, we have concerns about the possibility that landowners may block off and extinguish the rights of way to the beach. It is speculation at the moment, but we are watching the situation closely. This basically means that pedestrians will have to access the Rossglass beach from the Rosssglass church end or the Tyrella end to prevent trespass from happening.
“We have used these rights of way for generations. The present access to the beach is right in front of our home on the Minerstown Road and now we would have to travel quite a distance to get on to the beach. It just sounds bizarre as the beach could drift towards areas of private control where no-one would be allowed to set foot on parts of it. This has always been an open beach.
“Secondly, a farmer who uses the access road to the beach to access his fields to feed his livestock could be blocked out if these proposals in fact go ahead. The other tighter access road will not allow him to get through the entrance with a trailer. Surely this would cause a problem if he could not feed his animals. And he certainly won’t be allowed on the beach area in his tractor either according to the bye-laws.
“Thirdly, people have been using this beach for decades and it seems ridiculous that no-one is allowed take a vehicle on to it. There is a real danger that if people have to park cars and vans etc on the main road that it will constrict traffic and possibly cause an accident. There is no designated car park as such. This is a straight road basically with one bend and residents are concerned about this development especially as cars and motorbikes do at times travel fast on this stretch of road. We are now not allowed to even fly a kite within certain times of the year. And you will not be able to launch a boat from the beach or within 200 metres of the designated zone between 1st May and 31st October. Horses now will not be allowed to trot along the edge of the water at the beach from the 1st April to 31st October from the hours of 10am to 6pm.
“We know of two people who are wheelchair bound and are regular beach-goers and they would not get on to the beach with their families unless they did so by a vehicle. There certainly seems to be a disability access issue here.
“And we are totally in support of preserving wildlife. This must be made clear. We have in the past rescued abandoned seal pups. I don’t believe that there has been any significant abuse of wildlife in this area despite some claims made recently. All of the people who live on this part of the coast are tuned in to the wildlife and we live in harmony with them.
“We see no worrying of seals  by dogs on the loose for example. I would question why these claims are being made now. All of this has just taken the local people by storm. It just seems like bureaucracy gone mad. We actually support the bye-laws, but they do seem to be extreme in their measures.”
Danny Keenan also expressed his concerns and added: “We do not directly represent the local people who are concerned about this latest development. We have not formed an action group as yet. These views are our own, but are shared largely by local people and beach users. To date there has been no application to the Council planners or otherwise to extinguish the rights of way or close the access to the beach so it is just really speculation at this moment. But forty residents gathered on the beach on Monday to peacefully express their worst fears on the issues.
“The seals and birds are not in danger from what we can see. I am just curious why all of a sudden these issues and fears have arisen spontaneously.
“On Sunday especially and at this time of year, the traffic can get really busy at the beach road as people take the coast road driving on down towards Newcastle. Â And you also get motorbikers on the road too adding to the dangers.
“Our home on the Minerstown Road faces the beach and we don’t see any significant abuse of the beach or of wildlife taking place. We are there 24/7 through the year. We know that there are some people who come down on a regular basis and actually clean up the rubbish that comes in with the tide. These volunteers certainly have to be commended.
“But we have a balance here at Rossglass. I suppose we could even see this sort of bye-law now imposed on all our beaches in the Newry Mourne and Down District area in County Down. Could Ballyhornan or Kilclief beaches be next in line I wonder?”
Down News has posted up a copy of the Council bye-laws for all to see. Just click on the link!
*Â http://www.downdc.gov.uk/Online-Documents/Byelaws-for-Minerstown-and-Murlough-Beaches.aspx
Enright Campaigns For Wildlife
On February 2014, Independent Downpatrick area Councillor Cadogan Enright said in his blog that this was “Good news for wildlife,” and added that “For the last 6 years+, I have been trying to get bye-laws passed to protect shore-nesting birds and seal pups from disturbance during the breeding season. The DOE delayed us for years – but now our bye-laws will be going for consultation in the next few weeks.”
In order to promote the passing of the bye-laws, Cllr Enright encouraged people to contact him to get a copy of the consultation document and to make their own responses to the DOE. He even encouraged people who didn’t  live locally but who use the beach to submit to the consultation.
Cllr Enright was particularly concerned about disturbance to the seals on the rocks at Rossglass and the nesting plovers.
He added: “These bye-laws are the first in Northern Ireland by a Council specifically to protect wildlife. They are a precedent that can be used to protect wildlife in any other part of NI. This is why myself and others have campaigned for years to get this result…
“Once most ordinary decent people are told why they have to keep their dogs on a lead near seal pups, or keep dogs 200 metres from newly pupped seals they make a point of doing so. Anyway we have 100 kilometres of coastline to let dogs run free!
“… these bye-laws also authorise public officials to take action where needed.”
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A proposed coastal walkway from Strangford around Killard Nature Reserve to Ballyhornan and onwards along the Lecale coast linking with other walkways along the coast which was supported by Cllr Enright may well  drive walkers to environmentally sensitive coastal areas of seals, butterflies, birds and other flora and fauna. Perhaps  a harmonisation of walker and visitor traffic past beaches and environmentally sensitive coastal areas may also yet need to be examined. But then again, is this not just a Marmite sandwich? You either like it or you don’t! It seems an issue that could linger on for a while until it is finally digested.
