Eastney Beach 21 May

[Greenman]

It was my first visit this year. I was there from 10:30 to 12:10. It was lovely and sunny and the sea nice and calm. There were a reasonable number of fellow naturists on our beach.

No sign of any security guards at all. If they become a problem it may be an idea if we all bought Quinetiq shares and then lobbied the company at their AGM. Any thoughts on that?

Brian

[sunnydays]

I think a lot of us are concerned about the presence of the security guards especially at weekends when I bet they will be out in force, this weekend hopefully being warm and sunny will be an opportunity to flex their muscles. I am not quite sure what there powers are to make you move, is it a verbal warning, does it have to be in writing, they obviously have no idea of your identity, could be interesting !!

[uknudist]

Low tide is at midday over this coming weekend so there will be acres of space for sunbathing in front of the Fraser Range site even if QinetiQ do decide to send their goons down there.  Remember that they only own a wedge-shaped part of the beach down to Mean High Water Mark (which is roughly where the lower bunch of anti-tank blocks are).  They don't own the rest of the beach and they have no say whatsoever in what people do there.

My understanding is that if you're on their bit of the beach, they can ask you to leave, and if you refuse to do so, then you are trespassing.  However, they can't force you to leave and the police don't have powers to arrest you or force you to leave either (unless you are threatening or abusive).  What QinetiQ could do though, in theory, is sue you.  It would be interesting to see whether a court would uphold legal action against someone just sitting on what has always been regarded as a public beach but I have to say that I wouldn't want to be the test case...

Enjoy your weekend and make full use of the beach!  :-)

[nagumbe]

I am not a lawyer but it is my belief that if the guards try to get you off the beach they would need a court order issued by a magistrate. In carrying out this order they may be assisted by the police. As has been stated by uknudist, the land below mean high water mark is outside the jurisdiction of QinetiQ and you can use it legally.

[Rich1960]

Have not been to eastney since reading all the postings about the closure.
Where are people going now? Have been to Shoreham over the weekend which was very busy but did not recognise anyone from Eastney Beach.

If the same number of people are going please let me know and we too will go back to eastney.
Can you stay above the foreshoe as I imagine it could get very crowded on a high tide day.

[nagumbe]

Eastney Beach, or at least the bit traditionally used by naturists, is still officially closed as far as we know. However, today, Monday 24th May, the beach was quite busy in the afternoon with about 60 to 70 naturists at any one time. The 'Keep Out" sign has disappeared although we don't know if it was stolen by thieves or removed by QinetiQ. The beach is not guarded very often and so a large number of people have been using it as normal.

The beach below mean high water mark is outside the jurisdiction of QinetiQ and so you are free to use it depending on the state of the tide.

[Driftwood]

I spent a couple of hours there on Saturday afternoon and most of the afternoon on Sunday.

There were no 'Keep Out' signs visible nor were there any security guards to be seen. 

[naturists2002]

Other than Eastney we have used the beach at Selsey.