A WHEELCHAIR user who has been unable to use the beach for almost twenty years cut the ribbon to officially open the Bexhill Beach Garden this morning (Saturday).
Colin Dearmer has become the first disabled visitor to the new facility, which has been four years in the making, and the end of Phase 1 was celebrated with a short ceremony today, attended by dignitaries, volunteers and people who have previously not been able to use the beach.
The Beach Garden is the brainchild of ex-Mayor Lynn Langlands, who has worked tirelessly since 2020 when she realised that disabled people had difficulties accessing the beach, so the idea was pitched to create the garden.
Colin told Bexhill News: “It was wonderful to be the first person on the Beach Garden. I’ve been living here for 18 years and so often in the past, I’ve been on the prom, watching my grandchildren playing on the beach. It’s fantastic that I’ll now be able to join them because of this wonderful development.
I hope that it’ll be a model that can be replicated in many other seaside towns because inclusivity is so important. The wonderful amount of work that the people have put into this, and in particular, Lynn Langlands, who’s really been an inspiration. She is a fantastic person and I think she’s done such a lot of good things for this community and this is just another thing that she’s done. She’s amazing.”
It’ll eventually be a space for everyone to use and enjoy which was completely funded by donations and grants.
At the opening, Lynn said: “It’s so moving to see people down here who have Mobility issues and have just not been able to come here before. I was keen to try and demonstrate in a small way how we might be able to create a garden area on the shingle that would increase biodiversity and, in turn, show how natural solutions such as planting can help to stabilise the shingle, so it’s wonderful to actually see it open.”
Hundreds gathered for the opening this morning, including MP for Bexhill and Battle, Dr. Kieran Mullan. He said: “It’s fantastic to see people come together to celebrate something that is already incredibly popular with the local community. Huge congratulations to everybody who’s played a role in making this happen, it’s really fantastic. It’s not easy to get funding for this sort of thing, so they should be really proud of themselves.”
