Teams involved in the clean-up operation along the Lincolnshire coast following the North Sea collision have been praised for their efforts to remove any pollution. We spoke to LCC Coun Colin Davie.
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00:00Teams involved in the clean-up operation along the Lincolnshire coast following the North Sea collision
00:06have been praised for their efforts to remove any pollution.
00:10We spoke to Lincolnshire County Council's Colin Davey.
00:14Obviously the incident could have been much, much worse than it has happened to be.
00:22We could have had the sinking of the vessels, we could have had a complete environmental catastrophe on the coast.
00:30Obviously you are aware we have some plastics washing ashore.
00:34Those have obviously been dealt with by the Resilience Forum and the various partners who will clean the beach up.
00:42I think that spill of plastics will last for a few days before they actually get it all resolved.
00:50But I am very certain that they will make sure that our beaches are beautiful and pristine
00:56before we start the summer season properly with Easter in the middle of April.
01:01I say this has been a very near miss for the Lincolnshire coast.
01:07We have been very fortunate that the environmental impact has been relatively small compared to what could have happened.
01:16I pay tribute to all those in the emergency services and the Resilience Forum
01:21who are making sure that our beaches, not just for visitors but also for our environment,
01:28for the things that live in the sea, are as clean and repaired as quickly as possible.
01:34As I say, a very near miss.
01:38This could have been an environmental catastrophe on a scale that the UK has not seen probably for 50 or 60 years.
01:46So we are very fortunate and we have got great people working to clear it up and we should celebrate that.
01:52So what is your understanding of the operation that is taking place at the moment?
01:59Well obviously we have got onshore drift in terms of materials coming off the cargo boat.
02:08A lot of it is sweeping down the coastline down into Norfolk, into the wash.
02:13So this is a big environmental area. There is a lot of cleaning up to be done.
02:17Removing plastics is a very time-consuming job, particularly as these are nodules or very small pieces of plastic.
02:26So this is going to have to be done very carefully.
02:29But you can track the drift so you know exactly where the materials will be deposited along the coastline.
02:37So you can deploy accurately workforce to clean those up between the first point and the last point.
02:44So that is what is going on at the moment.
02:46I think it is not going to be done in a day. I mean we all have to accept that.
02:51But I think in the next 10 days or so a lot of that material will be removed and hopefully we will have the beaches back to good order.
02:59And it is not like the whole coastline, it is very patchy.
03:04There are some areas which have had quite a lot of this stuff come onshore, some areas very little.
03:09But making sure it is all cleared up is absolutely the priority.
03:14I think some people have been concerned that while this clear up operation is going on,
03:21the actual public beach clean on the 30th which the Gibraltar Point has been promoting has been cancelled.
03:30There must be some threat to human beings from this pollution. For them to do that I would have thought.
03:40Not necessarily Chrissie. Sometimes when you have got professional teams doing work with things that might have a mixture of toxic,
03:49there might be oil mixed in with the plastics etc. That should not be handled by volunteers.
03:55That needs to be cleaned up properly. Because we do not want any trace of it left.
03:59Because of its impact on the environment.
04:02I suspect it is more because they did not want volunteers mixing with the professional team at that time.
04:08They just wanted to make sure everything was done.
04:11There is plenty of rubbish people leave on the beach to be cleared up every day of the year.
04:18And we need those volunteers who are doing an amazing job.
04:22I had a meeting at Gibraltar Point just recently and heard about the fantastic number of volunteers
04:29who have come to do these beach things.
04:31And they do not just come locally, they come from all over England just to help and support the beach.
04:37So I think that is really positive.
04:39But I suspect they just do not want the volunteer force mixing with a professional team that is there to do a job.
04:49Which is remove everything, clean it up properly and make sure there is no trace of what happened left.
04:57It is not like picking bottles or cans off the beach or rubbish that people have left behind.
05:02This is environmental stuff that needs to be done properly.
05:05Now Skegness is enjoying some really good weather at the moment.
05:12And businesses must be concerned that people might deter coming while this operation is going on.
05:21What would you say to people?
05:23Well, we have got beautiful weather and we have got beautiful beaches.
05:27And most of those beaches when they come will be absolutely spotless.
05:31Because if they are coming this weekend, there are beaches that are not impacted.
05:36You can find out easily from the Skegness standard where those beaches are.
05:40So come and enjoy the sunshine. It is beautiful weather.
05:46And let's hope we have a good season this year.
05:50A lot of businesses are really worried about the 2025 season.
05:54They are concerned about how the budget changes that will come into effect in April are going to hurt their businesses.
06:03I am hearing a lot of people talking about cutting workforce, reducing the number of people they employ.
06:10Not opening every day of the week to save money.
06:15Everyone is very concerned about energy costs and how that is impacting on them.
06:20Whether they are just a pensioner living in a small bungalow or a business which employs 100 people.
06:26Everyone has real concerns that energy costs are crippling everything and taking out of life every single enjoyment.