Terrible experience at Tyrella leads to questions

SIR, — I am writing to inform you of a disconcerting experience our family had at Tyrella Beach on a recent Sunday afternoon.

After hearing good reports of the beach over the years, we arrived for the first time at the car park and paid the £4 entrance fee.

It then quickly became apparent that there was a hazardous problem with the parking arrangements at the site. There was no stewarding by council staff, which was less than satisfactory, and, in the absence of any instructions, it left everybody doing their own thing.

We witnessed a couple of instances of unpleasant behaviour before we became involved with an individual who can only be described as an odious egomaniac, who parked in a space which we were manoeuvring into. It nearly created a brawl. The aggressors had children in their own car and they didn’t exactly show them a good way to behave. Our own two children, aged three and five years, were left clearly visibly upset.

We were not going to spend another second in the place when another family member who had witnessed the hostile scene then kindly offered their space to us as they were leaving anyway and asked if we were OK.

After this, we made our way to the toilet building at the rear of the entrance kiosk, only to discover that the women’s toilets were locked and although the gents toilet was open, once I opened the door it was in such a disgraceful condition none of us could go in to use it.

We mentioned this to the attendant in the entrance kiosk and he directed us to the toilet block at the beach area. If anyone had mobility problems or was disabled, there would have been problems straight away.

We went to the beach and used the toilets, but by that time the whole experience of lawlessness put us off.

This is an age of health and safety and this is no way to run a public amenity. What are people paying £4 per car for?

I suggest you get a risk assessor on the site as it is unthinkable what could happen there.

Yours etc,

MARIUS MULLIGAN,

Royal Lodge Road,

Belfast.