Bondi? Rimini? No - LONDON BEACH!

From 2006 onwards, there will be seaside atmosphere on the banks of the Thames river, under the shadow of the London Eye:



The beach can go ahead next year - yesterday at Lambeth town hall the councillors voted in favour for it.
It's thought to be open for 62 days between June and September.

As well as tons of sand, there will be space for beach volleyball courts, mobile barbnecues, bars and cafés.

There will also be a mobile library, activities for children including a waterspray area, market stalls and a space for a yoga class.



Weather permitting, the facilities should become a major touristic draw. One of the biggest attractions will be a 1,000-seat open-air cinema, with a seven-metre-high screen and its own box office.

The entire site will be decked for the eight-week duration of the beach.
Swimming on the Thames, however, will not be on the agenda because polluted water, river traffic and treacherous currents have ruled that out on safety grounds.

The idea of a beach on the South Bank was first suggested last summer.
But a series of delays involving planning permission meant that there was not enough time for it to be ready for the school holidays.

Another plan for a London beach, this time at Tower Bridge, was proposed last summer by Bob Geldorf but failed to win planning consent.


Slightly shortened report from the "Evening Standard", West End Final Edition, 02.11.05


Parisians may have got a beach alonside the Seine to their great delight much earlier - but Londoners have got the Olympics AND their beach now :wink: