East Devon District Council’s beach huts and chalets, including those at Jacobs Ladder, reopened on Saturday 4th July, in line with the government’s relaxation of lockdown rules. The council has 417 beach huts in Beer, Budleigh, Exmouth, Seaton and Sidmouth. It has 20 chalets in Exmouth, which, along with the 68 beach huts can be used all-year-round. The season for the other beach huts runs from late March to the end of October. The beach huts have remained closed since the announcement of lockdown in March.
To compensate for the lost time due to the Lockdown we are holding the beach hut charge rate from last year and reducing it pro-rata for the remaining season.
Councillor Paul Hayward, Deputy Leader of East Devon District Council and Cabinet Portfolio Member for Economy, Asset Management and Regeneration said “I am delighted that these much-loved and well-used public amenities are now able to be re-opened, subject to the necessary social distancing and signage. Cllr. John Hart, Leader of Devon County Council, is absolute spot on when he states that ‘Devonians are sensible people, who behave sensibly and follow the rules’. We all have personal responsibility for ourselves, and to protect our loved ones and neighbours. Summer is an intrinsic part of Devon life and the ability to sit by the seaside is an oft overlooked pleasure and will allow us to return to some sense of normality whilst recognising - at all times - that the virus still exists, and will not hesitate to strike again if we are not all very careful. It would be remiss of me not to mention that revenue from the hire of these huts plays a part in balancing the Council’s books and thus every day that they remained closed worsened our financial position, and made the job of providing quality services to all residents that much harder. But I wholeheartedly believe that Council has struck the right balance between public safety, and public amenity, in this decision and look forward to seeing our beaches and tourist spots bustling with laughter and fun again - in a safe, secure and sensible manner of course.”