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August Bank Holiday Weekend

Shell Island started the week preceding the Bank holiday week end about 60% full. With the weather getting better as the week went on, We started to tell all enquiries that the Island would probably stop taking new arrivals on Saturday. By Thursday this had been changed to Friday night. On Friday we accepted some three hundred new arrivals and by 7.00 p.m. the sign went up to say the Island was full. For this we can only apologise as it isn't so much the room for more it is more a question of how many the toilets, water supply, showers will be able to cope with before they become totally and unacceptably inadequate. In fact all the resources are stretched to the limit.

Water supply
Shell island is supplied with a 3 inch water main, capable of delivering 150 litres of water a minute. This is more than adequate for all our needs. Unfortunately, on Bank Holiday weekends the whole area puts so much strain on the area network, the pressure drops and therefore the supply. This bank holiday weekend at best during the day we were only receiving 75 - 80 litres a minute. about 2/3 s of what we required. We have a temporary water store behind the toilets and showers of some 7000 litres which is used to bolster the supply to the toilets primarily and secondly to enhance the supply to the showers. This reserve will be increased to some 14000 litres for next year.

More Toilets/ Showers
Many people come up with the idea of more toilets and showers around the site. This we agree would be ideal. Unfortunately we would have an immediate problem with planning permission. Planners have a policy to allow building work only in the centre of the island so as not to spoil the visual aspects of the island. A second problem, that isn't so obvious is where do you get rid of the waste. We are not connected to a sewage system like the towns, we have to run the solids to a septic tank and the soiled water has to disperse into the ground. A lot of Shell Island is low ground close to the water table. In winter the ground is totally waterlogged and any fouled water would just lie on the ground leaving a permanent smell as well as not being particularly healthy to say the least for camping on!

Water disposal Points
There are a number of water disposal points for your own waste washing water near the centre of the island, these we hope to increase to save people just throwing there water into the nearest hedge. 

Rubbish 
Rubbish over the Bank Holiday weekend does build up very quickly. although most people do bag up and take there garbage to the skips unfortunately a lot leave their's just where they camped. Our maintenance lads do what they can, over the week end but at the end of the day with so many people here, the problem becomes overpowering and ultimately it takes a week to clean up the site again.

Washing Up facilities
Yes one day we hope to have a washing up facility, but we do need to sort out our water problems first.