Group Activities

[Barewalker]

Some readers may consider the current discussion concerning naked walks on a group primarily concerned with a campaign to preserve a nudist beach a little off-topic.  I look at this way -  Currently we are at the 'phoney war' stage of the campaign, the threat to Eastney's continued use begins when the demolition phase starts and the beach is closed for health and safety reasons, possibly a couple of years away.  As a group this gives us time to establish relationships and foster solidarity, aside from beach gatherings other social activities can help achieve this - whether it's country walks, a group visit to Abbey House Gardens or pub get-togethers (the way this campaign developed). I would appreciate your thoughts please.

[nagumbe]

Yes, I think that forming good social ties with other beach users would be a good thing. Your suggestion of other activities besides the beach is interesting.

Barry

[A Textile]

Some readers may consider the current discussion concerning naked walks on a group primarily concerned with a campaign to preserve a nudist beach a little off-topic.  I look at this way -  Currently we are at the 'phoney war' stage of the campaign, the threat to Eastney's continued use begins when the demolition phase starts and the beach is closed for health and safety reasons, possibly a couple of years away.  As a group this gives us time to establish relationships and foster solidarity, aside from beach gatherings other social activities can help achieve this - whether it's country walks, a group visit to Abbey House Gardens or pub get-togethers (the way this campaign developed). I would appreciate your thoughts please.

I think Eastney Beach users should join up with local residents, if thats possible. It would suit both sides to fight this devlopment, even if it were for different reasons. We havn't really heard from local residents about the prospect of new flats dwarfing thier views - the more fighting power the better.

If these flats do finally go ahead I would think the current razor wire fence would act as a suitable boundary for the demolition works, may not need to close the beach.  The buildings shouldn't take too long to raise to the floor, it will be all the hardened concrete that will be more difficult to sort out.[/color]

[Sashmo]

This site is a very good start for a campaign against the buildings, and/or the use of the beach.  This not only allows us some type of community feeling but also gives us like minded people to talk to.  I have been going to the beach for a few years but not active within the naturist movement.  Therefore this website gives me the opportunity to do both.  I feel that the website could be a little better advertised and a more social situation/meeting would be good.  I didn't go to the main meeting because I have saw the sign too late, and I would prefer to meet with others in a more relaxed atmosphere.  Not sure if this made any sense.  Hope it does

Sash

[nagumbe]

This site was started primarily for the campaign to ensure continued naturist use of Eastney beach. Whilst local textiles are free to join us the focus, nevertheless, remains on behalf of naturists.

That is not to say that we do not take other's views into account. We have talked to, and gained good cooperation from, the owner of the adjacent caravan park who has his own concerns about the proposed development. We have spoken to local councillors and a meeting has been arranged with the local MP, Mike Hancock. One of our group has also agreed to engage with the Eastney Neighbourhood Forum to discuss their concerns. Our recent two-page spread in The News highlights once again that we are naturists and unashamed, that we are good responsible citizens who enjoy a minority lifestyle. Many of our concerns dove-tail quite happily with those of the rest of the community.

Other interested parties could quite easily contest the building of apartments by questioning the state of the local infrastructure such as roads, utilities, congestion and numerous other aspects. But that can be their own particular campaign.

As to the boundary for the demolition and construction phases when they come around, I can only surmise that the developers will grab as much as possible. They will probably fence the entire extent of their property down to the mean high water mark on "Health & Safety" grounds. I do believe that the developers are supposed to allow continued access to the beach whilst works are going on but I will be surprised if they do.

Advertising. If you type "Eastney Beach" (without the quotes) into Google we are now fourth in the list. That's a good result which shows we are being heard of. There are signs on the beach that Max and Simon have posted with our URL but they keep getting pinched. We hope that is because people are interested and took the signs for the URL to look us up. I also have printed tri-fold leaflets and left them in a variety of public places. One place was at Lloyd's Bar in Port Solent where I left a stack amongst the tourist information leaflets and when I went back a week later all but one had gone. In addition I have printed business cards with our logo and URL which I leave everywhere from pubs, restaurants, clubs, sports centres etc. They have even found their way into books on relaxation, relieving stress, camping, holidays, and changing your life in the bookshops. Probably the biggest advertisement of all was our News article last month which included the website address. If you have any other ideas then we would be pleased to hear them.

Incidentally, the business cards are downloadable from this site and will print either on A4 paper to be cut up or will fit neatly onto cards which are 85mm X 54mm - 10 to an A4 page. Feel free to download, print and distribute.

The tri-fold brochures are also available in our downloads section to be printed on A4 paper. In both cases you will need Adobe Acrobat reader to open the pdf files.

Regards

Barry

[Bare4fun]

May I interject here!!
With reagrd to the boundry of the construction works, the old fence would have to come down, that ceratainly wouldn't be acceptable around a residential development, and some intrusion onto the beach would be required to do that. Any intrusion onto established beach would be done within current legislation, and any necessay permission would be required to carry out work on public area's, the correct signage and safety precautions would need to be observed, its a minefield as well let me tell you.

 As for the removal of reinforced concrete, the machinery they have at their disposal would make short work of that, trust me on this one.

Close contact with the planning authority, the developers, and the main contactors would be needed, also constant checks on the progress of the work by interested parties will be required.

Next time I get to meet Barry and Mike I would be more than happy to share my experience and accumulated knowledge for the benefit of the group.

Pete Knight