Tynemouth Surfers Against Sewage protest makes the newspaper!

On Saturday 23rd April Andrew Riley and others organised and hosted a march from Tynemouth to Cullercoats as part of a nationwide network of peaceful and positive protests under the umbrella Surfers Against Sewage; a national charity formed in 1990. The protest attracted some negative press from the Chronicle due to the fact that some of the kids that came along drew on the base of the Collingwood Monument in Pavement Chalks, we think that it’s a shame to focus on the (arguably percieved) negatives and completely disregard the positive impact the group is trying to have on our local area.

The national protest campaign which took place in 12 locations across the UK on April 23rd called on water companies to end pollution nationwide. Last year, water companies pumped raw, untreated sewage into UK waters for over 2.6 Million hours with little to no consequences. This pollution is destroying eco systems, wildlife habitats and causing immeasurable effects on users a of our waters and inhabitants of our country; human, plant and animal.

Thousands of people across the country turned out by there local river or beach to make a stand; to show the water companies, local council and government that they are sick of the disregard for our environment; that it is time to redress the balance between people and planet and profit for water companies. We all know that the destruction of our environment is one of the biggest issues facing humanity today and into the future. The world we are leaving for our children to inherit is a scary one indeed; action is needed.

Andrew Riley and the rest of the volunteers, organisers and attendees are passionate; they give up multiple weekends each year to organise beach cleans and litter picks around the village and they often bring their families along too. They curate and disseminate information to the local residents and surfers and they have; with the help of Surfers Against Sewage, made a real positive impact on the environment in our villages.

Did you know - Crusoes on the beach were giving out tens, if not hundreds of thousands of polystyrene chip boxes each year on the beach; polystyrene being a material that takes around 500 years to decompose, but more importantly, in the process of decomposing it breaks into small pieces that are consumed by wildlife and have devastating effects on species populations. Through the campaign work of SAS, Crusoes changed their ways and use a biodegradable package now. This set the standard for other businesses in the village; in fact, Tynemouth was one of the first places in the UK to be awarded a ‘Plastic Free Coastline’ status due to the willingness of enough businesses to ditch single use plastics and switch to biodegradable or compostable alternatives. That is campaign work that has made a huge difference to our local environment - nearly every business in Tynemouth uses these alternatives now. Longsands Fish Kitchen, Rileys Fish Shack, Gareth James, the new Regular Jo’s coffee all consulted with SAS reps like Andrew to make a decision on their choices.

Photo by Lewis Arnold

Why Protest?

A great question. What difference does it make? Who sees it? Was Andrew expecting the CFO of Northumbian Water to be walking past and see the march and change his mind about the finances of Nortumbian water? No, I don’t think experienced environmental campaigners are that naive. They protest for a number of other key reasons - community, outreach, education, awareness raising, social media presence but perhaps most importantly to win the hearts and minds of the community through the press that is often associated with mass direct action.

The action got press. Chronicle Live did indeed run a piece on the protest. If you can manage to navigate the click bait and advertising on the Chronicles Website, you will see that the angle they chose to run focussed on the fact that a couple of the children in attendance had chosen to take their shared passion for the environment to the wall of the Monument where the march started. The headline reads -

“Surfers Against Sewage protestors’ apology over Tynemouth monument graffiti”

The article focusses on the chalk, yes, chalk doodles done by enthusiastic children whilst the march gathered and left for Cullercoats, the only bay in the region without Blue Flag status. The article claims the monument was “daubed in graffiti” and ‘locals’ were left “angered” at the “defacing” and “vandalisation” of an important public monument.

Joan Harvey of the Tynemouth Village Association claims that members of SAS are “condoning the sort of destruction of the very things that you would have liked to have though that Surfers Against Sewage is seeking to preserve”

Andrew was forced to apologise publicly to the newspaper for the actions. The only piece of positive press given to the action by the group was concealed within his apology where he told the reporter that they “did a big clean last month around the monument and we picked up 25kg of broken bottles and stuff like that”.

Our message is clear to the reporter at the Chronicle, the newspaper itself and the spokesperson from the Tynemouth Village Association. It is really disappointing to us that you have used your platform and influence to try to embarrass and humiliate a positive force for good in our local community. A word from the complainant at the time was enough, a request to stop and clean would have been met by nothing but polite words of acknowledgement and acceptance, an apology would have been made profusely in person we’re sure.

By involving the press, the complainants have caused more long term harm than any temporary pavement chalk ever could. The children who were innocently expressing themselves have been vilified by the establishment; branded vandals for expressing their actions in a non-permanent, non-damaging way. The message that has been sent to those kids and the parents of the kids who are passionate about our environment is clear.

The Residents Association would do better for the greater good of the village they care about to join the protest march where they could be influential in not only stopping the defacing of the monument, but the destruction of our local environment.

As for the press; they have shown that clickbait headlines are far more important that the hard work, dedication and passion for the environment shown by local residents with a passion for our community and global environment. We spoke to the editor of the Chronicle directly and put these concerns to her. We are hoping that she follows up with the reporter to show the protest and the issues it was hoping to tackle in a positive light now that the temporary doodles have been removed by Andrew, and of course, the rain. So far, after a week, we haven’t heard back.

Let’s not vilify our children; let’s encourage them to care, to express themselves, to be proud that they are part of a movement. Yes, let’s perhaps not let them do that on a public monument if that is a cause of upset, but we can surely look at this issue as grown up’s and realise that the bigger picture is the one that requires the energy from our elders in the village and certainly our press.

Jumping on the negatives to try to direct clickbait traffic to the Chronicle website by linking the story to the local teenage issues in the region happening currently. Perhaps cynically, I can’t help but make the assumption that the Chronicle have tried to capitalise on the very, very, very distant links between the actions of local protestors and direct action that has had so much press success from Extinction Rebellion and the linking of the Collingwood Monument to the Coulson Monument in Bristol but I reserve that perhaps tenuous link as my own opinion. Certainly the article does nothing but drive advert traffic to the holiday companies, beer companies or ‘foot massage at home’ slippers who’s adverts I was served when trying to read the article amongst pop-ups and other clickbait headlines.

Let’s get behind SAS as a community, they are a force for good and are the ones standing up for the issues we all face as surfers. Let’s not forget that our environment is intrinsically linked to the beauty, charm and ultimately the success of our local area.

Get involved with SAS here!

You can email the editor to tell them what you think here.