Should raking resume on Hoylake and West Kirby beaches?

A Wirral councillor has suggested raking could resume on Hoylake beach, a source of huge controversy in recent years.

Since 2019, when Wirral Council decided to stop all management of the beach after it was strongly criticised for spraying it with the herbicide glyphosate, the policy of leaving it to nature has been a source of much debate locally.

While some say the local authority should not try to work against nature, others believe the growth of grass on the beach is destroying it as an amenity beach for families to enjoy and interventions such as 'raking' are needed to remove the grass.

This policy will remain in place until 2023, by which time a scientific study on Hoylake beach will be finished and the public will have been consulted on what they think should happen next.

While some want the beach raked, there appears to be little desire to see glyphosate spraying return.

At last night's meeting of Wirral Council's environment and transport committee, Labour councillor Liz Grey commented on the future of the beach in response to a question on the nearby West Kirby beach.

The question, from Wendy Bennett, asked about grass growth at West Kirby beach.

Ms Bennett said that if it was unchecked it would probably grow towards a nearby restaurant and harm businesses in the town in general.

She asked Cllr Grey what action does the council plan to take to remove the grass.

In response, Cllr Grey said the council's permission to rake grass at West Kirby beach ended at the end of last year, but the authority would soon be applying to Natural England for it to be extended.

If successful, raking would resume from this spring.

She added that West Kirby beach was an "exemplary" beach, with a large section of natural beach and a section of raked [therefore more sandy] beach.

Cllr Grey said they both provide amenity and added that she hoped we can have something similar on Hoylake beach, adding that is the sort of compromise she has been hoping for and talking about right from the start.

This comment may be a source of optimism among those campaigning to protect what they call an 'amenity beach', with at least a section of Hoylake beach raked and sandy.

Under Wirral Council's policy, any change to the current policy of not raking the beach would not begin before 2023 and would only take place if permission from Natural England was granted.