Unfortunately not when certain Tata Gestapo are on duty. My number was taken a couple of months ago in the car park and I was cautioned when I got back to the security lodge. I was told the first one was a warning and I would loose my permit if I was caught again. its been a long walk from the level crossing since.

 

was talking to a corus worker yesterday in work, i asked the same question, he fishes himself and he said he got cautioned for fishing the beach on his long arm permit, his swipe card wouldnt open the security gate on the way out. had to get security to open it for him and they took is reg number and cautioned him.
long arm permit for long arm only, morfa beach is a private beach and shouldnt be fished by public, thats what he said :thumbdown:thumbdown

 

had a little go with them few wks ago.told me you can only fish left of slipway!be good to know if beach is there,s and have the right?.why is there a sign saying,fishing carpark or ect in that car park by slip then?

 

the sign says car park for staff given permision to fish or something like that. the sign is years old.
There is a public right of way all the way to the beach. I do not believe a beach can be owned in this country, but something tells me Oxwich is....
The council should know..

 

car park is for fishing club members for the corus comps they hold there, and that guy said there are only 2 private beaches in britian, and morfa is 1 of them,:nerd::nerd:
as for parking by the level crossing if you value your car dont bother, last time we parked outside boc and walked from there.

shame, its an awsome beach for rays and quite a few hounds too, anything could turn up there.

 

Everything in red belongs to the crown and the public has right of way. They are not right concerning only two beaches being privately owned as the natural trust also own a fair bit
http://www.thecrownestate.co.uk/metal_south_wales.pdf

 

According to that map, the short arm is crown estate !!

 

If that is the case ABP have no right to charge for it as it does not belong to them

 

I don't know, but there are little bits of red on it !

 

The beach at Morfa to the left of the longarm is NOT private property!!

If you look on the ABP site, you can download a map of port talbot dock as the place is called.The arms are owned by them but the beach is not,it is clearly marked as such.

They can stop you using there land to access it,but they cant stop you being on the beach,i would advise anyone being approached by security on the beach and asked to leave,to refuse and demand the police attend.Then they will look at the map and see it is not private property

 

There is a public right of way to Morfa Beach called Heol y deliad at the end of Longmans Lane. Tata would sorely love to close it (they cannot) as it is a security problem for them. The right of way crosses the South Wales Main Railway line. It was open to vehicles years ago, I believe for the access to farm fields on the east side of the road/right of way.
If the public had no right to get to the beach (if it was private) there would be no right of way.

thats my 2d

 

morfa beach is a public beach,access to and from the beach via the "long lane"(boc lane)is a public right of way,tata own the road that runs to the tip,i always cross that road to get to morfa beach,therefore i am trespassing on tata land,if only for a few yards.i have rung abp and tata steel in the past,and to be honest they are contradicting each other when i ask them certain questions,abp and tata both claim to "own"the beach:nono:,i said to both"its a public beach and access is also a public right of way:bleh:"and were they that bothered about me crossing a few yards of their land and was told"insurance purposes prevent them from allowing access across that particular stretch of road""!!!i think abp and tata are dodging the truth and nobody wants to be responsible for the anglers that use the beach:thumbdown.this has been a long standing discussion/debate on this forum,surely theres something someone can do so we can access this beach without fear of being asked to leave by some jumped up traffic warden!!! answers on a postcard please.....rant over......tight lines :fishing1:

 

cheers guys for info.dont think plod will help.my luck be gased,cuffed and banged up before they looked into it!.lol.

 

Good Post Newguy. The works Protection Staff are below Traffic Wardens in the legal grand scale of things 8>)

 

you can also access morfa via kenfig nature reserve, but parking at night here is dodgy and long walk.
some good answers but still nothing clear cut, as allready said i doubt it will ever be sorted.
ive fishied it quite a few times over the years,cycling from boc, i do venture up left to fish the banks up by kenfig river/stream on a big tide over low,
so far never been aproched by security.

 

owever, other than those restrictions in Forestry Commission forests for the purpose of public safety, the number of access restrictions in Wales is very small, numbering in just single figures.

Who can impose restrictions?
‘Relevant Authorities’ i.e. the Countryside Council for Wales, the Forestry Commission and the National Park Authorities can place what’s called a ‘restriction by direction’.
Landowners, tenants and those people with a legal interest in the land can contact one of these relevant authorities to either apply for a ‘restriction’ or give notice of a ‘discretionary restriction’.
The Secretary of State for Defence and the Home Secretary can also impose restrictions where they believe these are necessary for defence or national security.

N.B. As with Public Rights of Way (PRoW), the responsibility for managing access to and across access land, and dealing with obstructions, lies with the ‘Access Authorities’ as defined in the Act. These are the National Park Authorities within national parks, the Forestry Commission on afforested land, and everywhere else it is the local/unitary authorities. The responsibility for routes that are PRoW lies with local/unitary or national park authorities. PRoW are not affected by restrictions on access land.
`This was lifted from this http://www.ccw.gov.uk/enjoying-the-country/countryside-access-map/restrictions-on-access-land.aspx
So it looks like the security have not got a Scooby Do and I reckon if you shoved a copy of this under his nose he has to let you through (thats if he can read)

 

The way I understand it (as a Tata employee) is that Morfa beach is public land and as long as you walk down past BOC then access to the beach is allowed. Employees can get letters from HR which allow us to be on site outside of working hours and use the car park. I have one it states the conditions for using the car park and states that I must access the site alone or only with other authorised people.

The reason they issue these letters are for insurance purposes, you should be able to understand the company's position on this, if someone is on the site that doesn't understand the dangers that exist there and was to get hurt the company would end up paying a fortune in compensation to someone who shouldn't be there.

The long arm however is reserved for the use of club members (of which I am not) and I have heard of some of the works protection getting above themselves over this, but again this is for the same reason, if someone were to get killed on there who shouldn't be there the company would be liable. Put yourselves in the position of the company if you personally would have to pay millions in compensation due to a death on your site. The end result would be the closure of both Arms to all anglers even those who pay for the privilege.

My advice is if you have accessed the beach legitimately, then stand your ground and even take it further if you have to, to defend your right to access public land. But if you are somewhere you shouldnt be then maybe take it as told.

 

i have been told by people working in corus they dont own the beach the queen does and they own the point from the highest water mark up,there for when you are on the beach they say you have crossed there property very sad really even if they charged a fee like the longarm a lot will pay because its such a great venue

 

Hiya Rob. My understanding is that Lizzy owns up to top tide too, but there is a right of way (and it's on the map, cleary marked) onto the beach.

 

I seen on Facebook tonite that Tata are moving the public footpath that gives access to morfa beach "longlands lane".. I was fishing down there a few days ago and there was a public notice nailed to a post with a map of the proposed new foot path which looks like it go's right around the tip to the mouth of the river Kenfig. Search on Facebook save morfa beach for more details. :sneaky2:

 

Hiya Rob. My understanding is that Lizzy owns up to top tide too, but there is a right of way (and it's on the map, cleary marked) onto the beach.

From what i can gather, Longlands lane stops short of the beach where it meets the road (which is Tata's property)... so for the last 4m or so it is not a PRW straight to the beach.
After enquiring with the Ramblers (and being told the PRW does NOT extend to the beach itself) I was directed to the NPT council member responsible for such queries.
I have emailed the council officer concerned several times, but have only received "<name> is not at work at the moment, return unknown" or words to that effect.
Further enquiries have not been answered at all (with typical public sector efficiency)

The problem is that I suspect if too much fuss is created it is possible that TATA would technically be within their rights to prevent access to the beach at the point where it crosses the haulage road.

There is no point kicking off on the rights/wrongs on here, it is best that we persist in getting a definitive answer of NPT council on the EXACT rights of way and our legal standing as members of the public.

Guys, be aware that if we go at it the wrong way, it could seriously backfire if they are legitimately able to prevent the public crossing that bit of tarmac to the beach itself!

Then again, would TATA want the adverse publicity of closing access to such a beautiful and appreciated beach where many people enjoy peaceful and safe leisure activities... walking, kids go and kick a ball about (as against hanging around outside the off-licence), horseriders, anglers, etc.

We need to gather the FACTS first.. first stop is Neath Port Talbot council, and get the lazy sod whose job it is to communicate the relevant information in response to legitimate and worthwhile enquiries.

Start pestering them skiving tosspots asap! unk:

_________________________________________________________________

here is the email addy I was given by the Ramblers and the answer to my enquiry...

j.h.griffiths@neath-porttalbot.gov.uk

I am currently out of the office until further notice. If you need to speak to someone urgently on rights of way matters, please contact Brian White on 01693 686209, Claire Miller on 01639 686207, or Lee Barrett on 01639 686221, or if it's regarding highway matters, please contact Paula Hesketh on 01639 686514 - thank you.

_____________________________________________________________________

time to find out what's going on then....

 

No idea about the car parking here but i was just reading about the issuse mentioned ..
http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-south-east-wales-14667025

 

I think this one should be STICKIED by the mods, it's a fine beach and it needs to be defended for us common folks!
C'mon guys, don't let this one pass us by... no good moaning about it later!!
MORE PUBLICITY REQUIRED.. URGENTLY!

 

I work in Tata as a Contractor (well loved we are too) and I often see plenty of peeps fishing all parts of the Beach, even by the Longarm, some turn into the road leading to to the arm and park just past the Welsh water sewerage building and walk over the wall and down onto the beach, best fishing is up near the tip Ive been told though.

 

how come this thread is NOT a priority?
Is a bit more important than somebody telling you about their fishing trip and how many sugars they put in their soddin flask and their pointless ramblings about a bite which turned out to be nothing, but they bought some chips on the way home so it all ended ok.
FFS!