Save SOBO Beach campaign update · 15 October 2026
The next chapter in our campaignbegins today.
Today, we’ve taken significant further action to help safeguard SOBO Beach and the future of Southbourne Promenade.
Earlier this week, we welcomed BCP Council’s decision to offer SOBO Beach another 11 months, giving us the prospect of another wonderful summer together.
But with a preferred bidder now announced for the next twenty years, the fight to Save SOBO Beach is far from over.
This campaign began with a love for SOBO Beach. For the friendships, the sea swims, the music, the community gatherings and the thousands of memories created in this special place.
But it has opened up some much bigger questions.
Who gets a say in the future of our coastline? What do we value? And how do we make sure the places we love aren’t simply viewed as commercial assets, but as spaces that serve the people who use them?
BCP Council already has a Seafront Strategy, procurement policies and commitments to public engagement, social value and responsible development.
Our question is simple: have those commitments actually been honoured?
Despite repeated enquiries, significant questions remain unanswered.
What an independent review must examine
Public consultation
Where is the evidence that residents, beach users and local stakeholders helped shape the tender before it was issued?
Coastal strategy
How were the Council’s commitments to community wellbeing, accessibility, environmental protection and local character reflected in the tender?
Community and social value
Why did the dedicated social and community benefits criterion receive a nominal 2% of the overall assessment, and how did the evaluation as a whole satisfy the Council’s own requirements?
Financial sustainability
How were the proposed investment, financial commitments and long-term trading forecasts tested for a twenty-year coastal operation?
Governance and accountability
Was the procurement properly designed, authorised, evaluated and scrutinised?
These decisions could shape Southbourne Promenade for a generation. The public deserves transparent answers.
What we’ve done today
Today, we’ve taken our next big steps forward.
While Full Council agreed to refer the procurement for independent scrutiny, it did not expressly require that review to be completed before the new twenty-year agreement is signed.
So today, we’ve formally requested two important safeguards.
An extension of the procurement standstill, initially until 30 November, to allow more time before the Council can enter into the new contract.
A further Full Council resolution requiring the independent review to be completed, its findings considered and a further lawful decision made before any binding long-term agreement is finalised.
Neither request has yet been approved, but we are actively and lawfully pursuing both.
We will also shortly publish the questions we’ve raised with BCP Council, the responses we’ve received and what remains unanswered, so everyone can see the evidence for themselves.
This is about the future of our coastline.
BCP Council has now publicly named Seventa Events Limited as its preferred bidder for the proposed twenty-year Southbourne concession.
We recognise that many businesses, organisations and individuals are working hard to make Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole wonderful places to live and visit. We welcome the contribution that responsible businesses and investment can make to our coastline.
Our campaign began, and continues, with a love for SOBO Beach and the extraordinary community it has created.
But our support for SOBO does not mean opposition to another business. Our campaign continues without prejudice to Seventa or any other bidder.
Our priority is to ensure that when BCP Council makes decisions about the future of our coastline, it does so properly, transparently and in the interests of the communities it serves.
That means listening to the people who use these spaces, giving proper consideration to community and environmental value, and honouring the strategies and commitments the Council has already made.
Our questions are directed at BCP Council, its decision-making process and whether it has upheld its own policies and commitments.
We’re preparing for the long haul.
We’ve achieved something important together. The prospect of another summer at SOBO Beach is wonderful news.
But our work is far from finished.
Before the end of this week, we’ll be meeting to plan the next phase of the Save SOBO Beach campaign.
We’re exploring how to establish a more formal campaign group, how to fund our work going forward and whether there may be ways for the community to help SOBO Beach with legal costs, should that become necessary.
These are early discussions and we’ll share our plans as they develop, but please let us know if you’d like to help us with this campaign.
What started with thousands of people standing up for a place they love, is now raising questions at the national level about how decisions are made across our coastlines and we intend to see those questions answered.
To everyone who has supported this campaign, thank you. Your voices have brought us this far.
We want SOBO Beach to remain, we want the community it has built to continue and we want the Council to be accountable for the decisions it makes about our shared coastline.
The sun has not gone down on SOBO Beach just yet. And neither has our determination to Save SOBO Beach.
Want to help?
Tell us how you’d like to get involved, and join the Facebook group for campaign news first.
Save SOBO Beach
Read our 13 October statement →Press and media enquiries: hello@savesobo.com · Contact form