Scarborough beach toy library plan ditched by councillors

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A beach toy library allowing visitors to borrow toys for the day will not be set up in Scarborough after “legal and practical difficulties”, town councillors have said.

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Similar free beach toy libraries have been set up in Devon, Somerset, and Essex but members of Scarborough Town Council voted to scrap the plan at a full meeting on Tuesday, July 29.

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Deputy mayor, Cllr Sarah Mason, said the council’s community and place committee considered the beach toy library proposal but “found too many unresolved practical, safety and responsibility issues” for the authority to manage.

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“They made a recommendation that we cease taking this matter forward,” she added.

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The town clerk added that some of the issues raised by the council’s insurance company included liability concerns “if someone was to fall over the box or to cut themselves on a broken toy”.

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She added that use of land owned by North Yorkshire Council and a lack of response from the authority had further hindered the proposal.

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“We have spent a significant number of staff hours on it, and there have been recommendations from the community and place committee that we should potentially not look at this any further,” the clerk noted.

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Cllr Rich Maw, who originally proposed the idea of a beach toy library, said he was disappointed by the recommendation to scrap the plan, adding that the scheme was also backed by a prominent beachfront business owner.

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He told the meeting: “Instead, we’ve reached the conclusion that the idea is somehow unsustainable, without even testing whether or not the partnership could work. I also struggle with the suggestion that a beach toy library somehow conflicts with our environmental ambitions.

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“The whole purpose of the scheme is to encourage the reuse of plastic toys that already exist, reducing waste, and discouraging the purchase of new disposable items, and this is despite the involvement of the business that sells those items.”

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Scarborough South Bay Beach. Courtesy Anttoni Numminen Ldrs

However, Cllr William Stuart said that the “difficulties we’ve heard about are not caused by any lack of effort from this council” and suggested that littering on the beach was “the main issue”.

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“We need to look carefully at what is actually causing the problem. From the discussions that I’ve had with residents and beach users, the main concern is litter,” he told the meeting.

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Cllr Stuart said: “If someone leaves litter on the beach, rather than taking it to one of the many bins already available, how likely are they to take toys to a dedicated collection point that they may not even know exists?

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“The priority should be in improving beach cleanliness and addressing the litter problem as a whole.”