Fix Bournemouth Pier – But Don’t Fix the Surf Out By Andy Lennox

Plans to carry out essential repairs to Bournemouth Pier have prompted concern among Bournemouth’s surfing community – and it’s a concern that deserves to be taken seriously.

The issue is relatively simple. Bournemouth Pier needs investment and maintenance, but could changes made as part of those works inadvertently alter the sand movement and wave conditions that have made the pier one of Bournemouth’s best-known surfing spots?

This isn’t an argument against repairing the pier. Far from it.

Bournemouth Pier is an ageing structure exposed to an incredibly challenging coastal environment. Essential works need to be carried out, health and safety has to come first and the money available needs to be spent wisely.

But we also need to look beyond the pier itself and consider the wider Bournemouth seafront.

Why Bournemouth's surf matters

The pier, beach and sea don’t exist independently of one another.

Our beaches support surfing and watersports. Those activities bring people into Bournemouth. Those people spend money in our cafés, restaurants, pubs, hotels and shops.

And importantly, surfing is not confined to the peak summer tourism season.

Some of Bournemouth’s most active months for surfing are during autumn and winter, when our hospitality and tourism businesses particularly benefit from reasons for people to continue visiting the town.

That makes surfing more than a sporting issue. It forms part of Bournemouth’s wider visitor economy and its identity as a coastal destination.

We need to learn from the past

Surfing has been part of Bournemouth’s coastal culture for generations.

On the right morning, you'll find people heading into the water before much of the town has even started its day.

So when experienced local surfers raise concerns about changes to structures around Bournemouth Pier potentially affecting sand movement or the way waves break, those concerns warrant proper investigation.

We have seen changes to surf conditions elsewhere along our coastline, including at Southbourne and Boscombe. We shouldn't make assumptions about what will happen at Bournemouth Pier – in either direction.

Instead, we need evidence.

If engineering assessments demonstrate that the proposed works won't materially affect the surf, that information should be made available and explained clearly.

If evidence identifies a genuine risk, now is the time to understand it and establish whether the design can be adapted.

Because once a coastal environment has been altered, reversing those changes may be far more difficult.

A bigger conversation about Bournemouth

There is a wider point here too.

We can’t consider our tourism infrastructure entirely in isolation – the pier as one project, the beach as another, hotels and attractions as another.

That isn't how residents or visitors experience Bournemouth.

They experience the destination as a whole.

Someone might come to Bournemouth for a morning surf, stop for breakfast or coffee afterwards, spend time in the town centre, visit an attraction, have dinner and perhaps even stay overnight.

All of those individual experiences contribute to whether Bournemouth feels like somewhere vibrant, attractive and worth returning to.

That becomes particularly relevant as Dorset looks to grow its year-round visitor economy.

If we want to encourage more people to visit outside the traditional summer season, it makes sense to protect the activities that already bring people here throughout autumn and winter.

Liz Hutchings, founder of Total Guide to Dorset and a local surfer, said: “This really resonates with me. Autumn and winter are some of my favourite times to surf in Bournemouth and it’s something we do as a family too. My husband and I take the girls down, tag-team getting in the water with them, and quite often head somewhere in Bournemouth afterwards for dinner to refuel.

“That’s why I think the economic side of this is so important. Surfing gets people onto the seafront throughout the quieter months and that translates into people using local cafés, restaurants, shops and other businesses. Protecting the surf isn’t just about surfers – it’s part of protecting Bournemouth as a brilliant year-round coastal destination.”

Fix the pier. Protect the surf.

There shouldn't need to be a choice between protecting Bournemouth Pier and protecting Bournemouth's surf.

We absolutely need to repair the pier. Allowing such an important part of Bournemouth's heritage and seafront to deteriorate isn't an option.

But nor should we risk damaging an important local surf spot without properly understanding the consequences.

Before final engineering decisions are made, let's bring the right people together.

Speak to the engineers. Speak to the surfers. Examine the coastal evidence. Understand how sand moves around the pier and what impact the proposed structures could have on wave conditions.

Then make the decision based on evidence.

I will be making sure the Destination Management Board is fully engaged in that conversation.

Bournemouth Pier matters.

So does the beach around it, the people who use it and the businesses that benefit from the year-round activity our coastline generates.

Let's fix the pier – without fixing the surf out.

Andy Lennox is a Bournemouth businessman and Chair of the Dorset Destination Management Board. This article has been adapted for Total Guide to Dorset from a column originally written by Andy for the Bournemouth Echo