28/01/2016
Response Shelly Bay Beach House Petition
From the developer
First of all I am a Shelly Bay local area resident and frequent the Shelly Bay beach, playground and park regularly, My wife and I have two young daughters and we would all be devastated if someone tried to remove access or use of these areas.
We have been given a lease for the Beach house building at Shelly Bay and permission to operate some concessions on the beach, based on our response to a public RFP. Our proposal was to put in a family friendly restaurant, and community friendly amenities and rentals, and in doing so we would repair a near derelict government building and provide jobs.
We feel that in order for the business to be successful it requires parking available for its patrons. Existing parking by the sports fields is, far from the building, especially at night when it is not lit, and also heavily used and frequently full. For the Beach house building to be successful business it needs to be convenient for its patrons to get to.
In doing this we are not trying to take away anyone’s access or freedom to use the Shelly Bay beach or park.
Allow me to address the concerns on the petition.
Concern #
1) All Green Picnic areas are proposed to be taken up with a parking area and a pay to enter games area.
Firstly the area on plan labelled games area was so named as that is how it was referred to by Area MP Mr. Furbert, when discussing a good location to allocate parking that would support the business. Originally we proposed to put a parking area in between the building and well used shade trees. We were going to try not to affect the existing trees, and create privacy from the parking area with a hedge. Realizing that picnicker’s occasionally used this proposed parking area to put up tents, we thought we could plant shade trees and provide some landscaping in other areas of the park to make them more picnic friendly, and have a net positive gain for the residents using the area.
This proposal was objected to by Mr Furbert and Mr Burgess, as it was deemed to be used too heavily by picnickers as a “games area” and that it should remain as is.
This area will remain untouched and will be freely available for public use.
Regrettably in order to support the business a parking area is required and some green space has to be used to accommodate this. The area deemed fit for a parking area By Mr. Furbert and Mr. Burgess at an onsite meeting with myself and Mr Cannonier, was the site marked in the existing plans submitted to planning. The area is located behind the bus layby and is 55’ x 75’ rectangle. It is proposed to be protected by a 3’ wooden guard rail as the main parking lot is at the sports fields, as well as a hedge.
The parking lot is proposed to be made of porous pavers so it will retain the natural look of grass.
Access to the new parking area was deemed to be only necessary during the evening or when the main parking lot at the sports fields was busy, meaning it would not be open all the time.
The proposed parking area still leaves room where the existing park bench is, by the walking trail, and we proposed the planting of a shade tree in the area to make this seating more useable by the public. Some lighting was also proposed for the parking area and path to the restaurant.
2) Our Children’s’ safety will be at risk with a parking area for SBB House Restaurant adjacent to the playground.
We will be erecting the proposed guard rail and hedge to provide adequate separation from the parking area and walking paths. There are always safety concerns with children if not being adequately supervised, in Shelly Bay in particular there are significant safety concerns with children being so close to both a main road and also the water if they were to wonder off in either direction unnoticed. To this note it is always advisable to keep an eye on young children. In addition the parking area will not be open during the day when the majority of children are playing unless the other parking area is full.
3) Freedom to use all of the beach will be restricted by sports equipment and tables and chairs for restaurant patron use.
We will not be stopping anyone from using the beach in anyway. The sports we are proposing for the beach would mostly be water based, kayaks, paddleboards snorkeling, and while some equipment may be kept at the far western end of the beach(the end closest to the road), this should not interfere with anyone’s normal beach usage. We will be offering beach rentals such as chairs and umbrellas, which are amenities which we feel should be at any beach with the facilities to offer them. We would like to keep several picnic benches in front of the building, we thought several of these would be for both patron and public usage. We are conscious that the area is used for walking as part of the railway trail and will ensure to not block the path. The wording “all of the beach” is used in several places of the petition. There are certainly times when a person may rent a beach chair or sit as a patron on the beach at a picnic table, we do not see this as any different from a non-patron using a section of the beach, as surely all patrons are a welcome part of our community.
4) The park activities will be appropriated by a private enterprise that you must schedule through and make payment to.
We have no authority over the use of the park by anyone other than our own uses, and would not be interested in managing this or trying to charge for use of parks property.
5) It is a real fear that shelly bay beach will become Snorkel Park East
We are not entirely sure what this means, we do charge admission at Snorkel Park Beach, largely in an attempt to control the large volume of guests entering from the cruise ships, Snorkel Park is also not a public beach or park facility and as such is responsible for its own bathroom facilities and property maintenance, which are tremendous expenses that we attempt to recoup a portion of with a fee. The entrance fee also goes towards entertainment and activities on property.
We have never proposed charging any form of admission to any of the Shelly Bay Area, this is all public land, and we have also repeatedly said we have no intention of throwing any large late night style parties at our Beach House Restaurant.
6) The level of noise will significantly increase with Friday night ‘happy hour’ etc.
We are promoting our new Restaurant as a family friendly restaurant with a bar, it will have light ambience setting music and patrons sitting on the deck for dining. We do not envision noise levels being unreasonably high, and cannot foresee them travelling over the road traffic noises, or across the bay.
7) Alcohol from the restaurant will be permitted on the Snorkel Park Beach
Yes alcohol will be permitted on the beach, and is particularly intended for patrons renting beach chairs or enjoying a picnic bench. Signage will be put in informing patrons not to remove alcohol from the beach into the park area.
We do not view this as being any different from the many picnickers that currently consume alcohol at their events in the area, with the exception that liquor from our restaurant will be served by TIPS certified bartenders.
8) The safety Comfort and Happiness of community members, church groups, school groups, holiday camps and family celebrations will be severely compromised.
We are providing amenities and services that will enhance everyone’s experience to visiting the area. All these groups will benefit from such provisions as bathrooms, ice, refreshments, seating and shade, not to mention food and catering should it be desired. People will also be able to enjoy renting watersports equipment or sending their guests on a guided paddleboard or snorkel tour.
9) SBBH will be given permission to control the access gate.
As mentioned before, the parking area was to be used at night and when the other parking area is busy. Other than that the access gate would be closed as it currently is. Availability of a key to the gate on premises could benefit any picnic group looking to drop of equipment for events etc.
