Weymouth beach’s much-loved swimming rafts, a fixture of the Dorset resort for nearly 90 years, are being scrapped due to health and safety concerns.
The two platforms, which have been moored in the sea off Weymouth since 1939 and used by generations of swimmers, will not return this summer, Weymouth Town Council has announced.
The decision follows consultation with a law firm specialising in health and safety matters, which concluded the rafts posed a “significant risk to the public”.
The firm warned that the council could face criminal liability in the event of a serious accident.
The specialist advice was prompted by a warning from the RNLI, which said that the pontoons were “outside of their beach lifeguards “primary response area” and therefore presented a risk.
A council officer’s assessment further characterised the rafts as an “artificial offshore attraction rather than a natural feature of the sea”, citing the Occupiers’ Liability Acts and the Health and Safety at Work Act.
The assessment said that breaching health and safety regulations is a criminal offence, with prosecution possible “even without an incident” if serious risks are left unmanaged.
The move has led to some blaming health and safety “killjoys” for the loss of the popular amenity.
Officer Ian Milne concluded in his report: “On the present evidence, the removal of the rafts is not simply the lowest‑risk option but the only option which reduces risk to a level that is reasonably defensible in law.”
Members of the Lib Dem-led Weymouth Town Council backed the advice and voted that the rafts should not return.
The decision has sparked anger among beach users who said there had never been an accident connected to them before.
Christine James, of the Weymouth Bluetits sea swimming group, said: “The rafts are apparently dangerous yet they have been there for over 80 years and haven’t been deemed dangerous before.
“Health and safety has gone bloody mad. The council is running scared of health and safety.
“What happened to people taking personal responsibility? We aren’t allowed to do anything for ourselves anymore.
“The rafts were something that were fun for everyone and helped keep people fit.
“We went out there and pushed the kids off and sat and had a chat for a while before swimming back.
“Most people who have been here all their lives will say there has never been an issue with them.
“Anybody who goes into the sea does so at their own risk. Why can’t the council just put up signs saying ‘use the rafts at your own risk’?”
The loss of the rafts follows the withdrawal of pedalo boats from Weymouth beach due to a combination of health and safety rules and the government’s tax increases on small businesses.
Christine said: “We have lost the pedalos and now the rafts. Basically anything that is fun has been banned, except for cycling.”
The news that the rafts will not be returning this summer also sparked dismay on social media.
One commenter said: “Why don’t you just close the beach, I mean come on the water might be unsafe.
“Those rafts have been there for years without problems, then some little killjoy comes along and creates a problem that isn’t there.
“No wonder Weymouth is dying, we need people to come not drive them away with all this stupid red tape.”
A Weymouth Town Council spokesperson said: “The Council sought legal advice from a law firm specialising in health and safety.
“We supplied them with all the RNLI reports and correspondence that the Council had received, along with other background information including committee reports, and correspondence with our insurance company.
“The solicitors concluded that the documentation provided clear and compelling evidence of a significant risk to the public.
“The report they provided demonstrates that effective mitigation measures for the rafts are not realistically deliverable in practice.
“No operator is willing or able to provide the necessary supervision or operational support, and key risks remain at the highest level.
“This position is compounded by the withdrawal of insurance cover for the rafts, which cannot currently be reinstated.
“In these circumstances, Weymouth Town Council would be exposed to a significant liability risk should the rafts be redeployed.
“Any claim brought against us would be difficult to defend given the risks to public safety that have been identified.
“Based on the legal advice received, the removal of the rafts is not simply the lowest risk option, but the only option which can properly be regarded as legally and operationally defensible.
“This has been an agonising decision and not one that has been taken lightly.”
