(from Lytham St Annes Express June 1980)

Article 1

"THE long-delayed scheme to sell sand from St Annes beach begins in August - having survived a storm of protest in the past. Opponents fought for years to have the controversial scheme scrapped at an early stage - but to no avail. The much-threatened project has come through bruised but not beaten by conservationists and action groups with their countless objections, campaigns and protests.
A long fight began in earnest in May 1977, when residents from North Promenade, St Annes - which faces the sand removal area - formed the Sand Action Group. Fylde International Sand Yacht Club soon joined the battle. for the project, they felt, would harm one of the finest beaches in Europe. By June fury had reached fever pitch and a massive "preserve our natural heritage" campaign was m full swing.
The save our sand campaigners determined to maintain the natural beauty of St Annes beach, combined with Lytham protesters making early moves to thwart a plan to build a new baths complex on the foreshore. With Lytham St Annes Civic Society's support, public opinion now weighed heavily against both council projects.
There were many and varied objections to the sand sale scheme. St Annes residents had one eye on the Southport sand removal operations, which often continued well into the night and early hours of the morning
Their initial fears were that floodlights, heavy lorries and noisy equipment would become a feature of our own Fylde beach. Older residents, with long memories, recalled experts promising that works m the Ribble Estuary would have no harmful effect on Lytham beach - now all they have are unsightly mud flats.
However, the main objections to the sand scheme have been heavy traffic and its effect on the area. It was estimated that a 10-ton lorry would drive off the beach, onto the busy Clifton Drive North. every 10 minutes. six days a week. The prospects for residents was a considerable road hazard, a danger to children and a noise nuisance.
Objectors also claimed that the project could also-.
o Undermine the foundations of Promenade buildings.
o Erode natural sea defences
o Lead to increase in mud and silt on the beach.
o Prove unsightly to residents and holidaymakers.
Blackpool and Lancashire councils were two of the bodies which objected, until May 1978, on the grounds that the sea defences could be harmed. However, their fears were allayed by the £10,000 report that Fylde commissioned from the Government-appointed Hydraulic Research Station, which said ** there was no risk involved. In the same month the Lancashire Naturalists' Trust also made protests claiming the area in question was of exceptional ornithological importance used by about 7,000 wintering seabirds.
As well as the mounting objections, the scheme also survived a 3.000- name petition, representations to South Fylde MP. Mr Edward Gardner QC and attempts to instigate a public inquiry. Yet when Environment Minister, Mr Peter Shore, decided not to intervene in the plan - so giving the scheme the final go-ahead - Fylde did not ignore the great public outcry of the past years.
For the past 14 months Fylde council has taken meticulous care in compiling a list of 11 stringent conditions on the project for the appointed contractor. And to ensure that Fylde council and the contractor stick to every condition stipulated "vigilante groups" of protesters are likely to police the beach. In a continuing fight, objectors have pledged to see they keep to the designated area, wash sand off the lorry tyres before they go on the road, and stop work at the weekends and Bank holidays.

(** This statement in the press was not strictly true. The 1977 Wallingford Hydraulics Research Station report recommended strict conditions for the sand winning and concluded with "Much, we suspect, would depend on the period over which changes would take place. If deterioration of the (channel) walls was rapid, any attempt to extract sand in the proposed area might cause a new channel to form across the St Annes foreshore in a short time. It is not possible to predict such a change, but clearly the accumulation of sand in the lower reaches of the channel, if left undredged, may accelerate the formation of alternative flood and ebb channels.
It cannot be too highly stressed that the removal of sand should be accompanied by some measure of monitoring of the adjacent levels" Wallingford also reported "…it would clearly be unwise to subject this part of the coast to additional exposure to waves by removing sand from the upper foreshore.")

Article 2
"The sale of sand, one of the must controversial municipal projects in Lytham at Annes history. has a long and colourful background. The fundraising scheme gets under way on August 11, following several minor sand-removal operations during the last 50 years. One of the earliest sand removals was in 1934 - but money was not the motive. Council workmen dug up hundreds of tons of shingle and sand - to be used in the construction of a children's boating Pool and protective wall around the pool and miniature golf course at St. Annes.
To leave a stretch of level sands close to St Annes Pier, further sand was removed and sold to offset the costs of the new seafront amenities. It was to be the birth of today's highly organised one-year sand winning experiment.
Lytham St Annes Borough Council had another twofold advantage in mind when they began selling sand in 1969. The surplus sand was removed from troublesome high dunes - which were becoming too high and were being shifted dangerously close to main promenade roads. The worth of otherwise useless beach sand - which the town held in abundance - was at last being realised.
It may have seemed simple to hire a contractor to carry out the work, but 16 years of red tape have passed before the scheme has become today's reality. An initial planning application to Lancashire County council was refused on the grounds that Blackpool Council feared it would erode the natural sea defences.
The sale-of-sand plan then became a regular topic on council agendas throughout the 70s - with seemingly little progress being made to get the scheme started.
Leisure chief Coun. Bob Joyce was one of the regular critics of the slow-coach council. In 1977 he claimed the council had thrown almost £100,000 away in lost revenue over the previous 10 years. In that period the local authority made just £18,000 from their sand-removal efforts. Another prime mover of sand-selling was Chief Technical Officer Mr. Derek Illsley who, like Coun. Joyce, recognised that Fylde had been sitting on a cash bonanza. During 1975 Mr. Illsley revealed that in the past century, eight feet of sand had been added to the height of Lytham St. Annex beach through accretion.
"If we could sell a million tons - which would be neither here nor there - we could possibly raise about £150.000," he then stated. Today, as the scheme begins, estimates are more reserved - £30,000 is the figure Fylde hope to raise in the first year.
Five firms quickly came forward in 1975, interested in buying the sand. But within weeks Fylde had applied the brake to the radical sand-removal idea by appointing an independent body to study the scheme. Hydraulics Research Station announced the results of their £10,000 survey in January 1977. If carefully monitored, they revealed that a million tons of sand could be removed without risk to the beauty of the beach or the sea defences.
Fylde Borough Council gave the scheme the go-ahead and Blackpool Borough Council and Lancashire County Council dropped their objections.