06/10/2026
Our sister venue SOBO Beach needs your support.
If it's ever been your swim spot, your coffee stop or your place to breathe, please read their statement and let your councillor know before 13 October 💙
Statement from SOBO Beach
Following the BCP Cabinet meeting last week, we’ve been inundated with queries and concerns about the future of SOBO Beach. In response to these communications, we wanted to help clear up some rumours, give you the facts as stated by the council, and share our concerns with you and what you can do if you are concerned
The situation as it stands is:
◾ BCP have run a tender process for the future 20 year operation of the site.
◾ This process was supposed to be completed by 31 July 2026.
◾ Delays have meant the process still isn’t concluded, with approval required from full council before the decision is formally announced.
As is now public knowledge, SOBO Beach is not the preferred bidder. The reasons given in the BCP Cabinet report included ‘highest guaranteed and projected rental income, strong covenant strength, significant hospitality experience, established local presence’.
What concerns us immediately is that due to the process running late any new operator is unlikely to be in a position to open a new beachside venue for some time.
Our lease expires on 31st October 2026.
The new tenant will have access to the site from 1st December but does not have any planning permission in place to develop. When we applied for planning permission it took 15 months to secure it.
Since opening SOBO Beach a community has grown around us. We are not like other beach venues that attract tourists in summer and close for the winter.
◾ We have numerous groups of swimmers that use the sea day in day out, year round. We have community groups that use us, including Veterans Support Groups, SEND parents groups, Men’s Mental Health groups, Mum’s support groups, and many more.
◾ Winter is when we do a lot of charity fundraising, supporting Sleep Out to Help Out, the Southbourne Foodbank, the Southbourne Surf Lifesaving Club, Dorset Mind and others.
◾ We also have a lot of customers who use us throughout the winter as a respite from the world, or a connection to others. Individuals who can escape their problems and find peace if only for a short time at the beach.
We don’t use the word community lightly. We use it because it really matters and is a huge part of what makes SOBO Beach special. It is you the people that have shaped the way we have grown, the council has a rare opportunity to prevent a mistake before it happens.
They could easily issue SOBO Beach with a rolling lease to stay operating, whilst the council carries out a new tender in a better timescale to allow any operator to get planning permission in place to start development, without shutting the site indefinitely.
If the site closes before planning is in place then it is a mistake that could have been avoided. Your councillor has the opportunity to vote to prevent this on 13th October.
What can you do if you’re concerned?
We know you’re as concerned as we are, but it’s your councillors that need to know, they are the ones that have the power to prevent this mistake. They will be voting at a meeting on the 13th October about the future of the site. Before then you can write to your councillor and tell them if you are concerned on any grounds, including the following:
◼️ The timing of the process has been flawed and should be paused so it can be run properly.
◼️ The site should not be closed until planning permission has been achieved.
◼️ Councillors should have the opportunity to review the process so they can assure the public that it has been run correctly.
Only enough public concern will give the councillors a reason to query the process and ensure that it doesn’t lead to the prolonged closure of the site.
Read our full statement on our website ➡️ https://sobobeach.co.uk/
