The lower apron (walkway) of Weston Marine’s Lake frequently fills up with water due to the overtopping tides. Within a month, at least 15 days see both morning and evening tides overtopping onto the lower walkway. Much of this area is accessible by five sets of steps and two slopes, one by Knightstone Island and one at the main entrance.
Any rubbish left on the lower walkway is taken out to sea by the tide or ends up in the lake.
Tides over 11m (or 10.5m if the wind is coming towards us) make the lower walkway unusable. The highest tides happen early morning and late evening – outside of the usual working day. Tide timetables are supplied here, and are posted along the seafront and on the lake’s signboards. Installing rubbish bins on the lower walkway is therefore not feasible. On busy summer days when rubbish is more likely to be present, it is impossible for the waste collection teams to collect all the rubbish due to the volumes of people utilising the space.
During the summer season in 2022, North Somerset Council placed four additional large 1100L volume bins on the entrances to the lake. This helped the situation, alongside volunteers from the Mudlarks litter picking regularly each day.
We regularly litter pick and are always happy for others to do so. We go down to the lake on busy days and hand out rubbish bags to visitors. In fact, if you visited Marine Lake over the summer, you may have noticed a new ‘2 Minute Litter Pick’ station. We are the guardian of this station and are responsible for its day-to-day management, which includes keeping it safe, making sure it’s always stocked with bags and that litter pickers don’t go missing. Over the winter this will be stored to protect it from storm damage.
Installation was made possible thanks to North Somerset Council’s contractor Glendale as they kindly sponsored the station. The 2 Minute Foundation is a charity which operates a network of beach cleaning, litter picking and street cleaning stations that make it easier for people to take action against litter. There are over 1,000 stations installed in locations across the UK and Ireland. To find a station near you, visit: 2minute.org
You can report any littering and other environmental antisocial behaviour issues through the council’s online form at saferstrongerns.co.uk. The reports the council receives helps them build the case for more patrols of the area.
That’s really interssfing about the overtopping and tidal heights. Thanks for sharing and for efforts to keep the marine lake clean.