There are some people in Bermuda who have access to the luxury of a private pool. There are some people in Bermuda who have access to the more than 100 private beaches and coves. For people in neither of those categories, Shelly Bay Beach is the one place they can go to enjoy a summer day of traditional Bermuda picnicking with family, friends and community or for a tranquil, relaxing swim in the safe, calm waters.

The following remarks were made by Wayne Furbert, the Hamilton West MP, about the newly acquired picnic area at Shelly Bay and printed in The Royal Gazette article of August 22, 2017 under the headline “Beach House under demolition at Shelly Bay”: “I would like to thank my other colleagues, Derrick Burgess and Tinée Furbert. We have worked very closely to make sure that this area is kept predominantly for the people who use it on a regular basis.”

Furbert added: “[Lieutenant-Colonel David Burch] will beautify this area and make it more of a park for people to camp at with a picnic area.”

The article also states: “We would like to have bathroom facilities in the beach area. We would like entrepreneurs in the summertime to have some hot dog stands or snowball stands, or even jerk chicken ...”

Residents of Hamilton Parish and frequenters of Shelly Bay Beach agree that we would like to have bathroom facilities and would love to give young students returning to Bermuda for the summer holidays an opportunity to operate a snack cart or a snowball stand and/or for a lunch wagon on the top level to service both the beach patrons and the field patrons.

Shelly Bay Beach and Park is a very popular picnicking and camping area for residents. You can find, every day of the week, numerous groups of summer camp children swimming and playing at Shelly Bay Beach, as well as locals and tourists who are seeking the safety and tranquility of the water plus an unhurried environment.

The weekends welcome families, church and community groups, locals and tourists who seek an authentic Bermuda beach experience and want to avoid the tourist trap.

The Bermuda Tourism Authority’s plan to support the operation of three small businesses and promote entertainment out of Shelly Bay Beach carelessly encroaches on the picnic and camping area that was promised to the people.

The businesses will entail a “refreshment centre”, a beach supply and beach sports rental area for beach lounges, towels, suntents, wakeboards and paddle boards, and a business operated to conduct activities for tourists, such as scavenger hunts, walking tours, yoga classes, massages and mountain bike rides.

All will operate out of three repurposed shipping containers. Entertainment on a planned wooden decking area is also planned.

To satisfy its intentions, the BTA has submitted a plan to the planning department. Planning application P0224/18, outlines the expectation of purposefully invading the area promised to picnickers and campers by erecting the following commercial space:

1, Proposed temporary installation of three modular containers (8ft by 20ft) on 12 precast concrete pads (5ft by 10ft) for commercial use (8ft by 20ft)

2, Proposal to include two wooden decking areas to be installed in front of the containers with covered pergola

3, Proposal to include new wooden deck pedestrian pathway to connect the existing footbridge with the existing playground pathways

4, Proposal to erect 8ft-high chain-link fencing with privacy screening

The use of containers for building and social purposes is now a popular trend. You can find hundreds of examples on the internet as hipsters urbanise and gentrify neighbourhoods with bistros, yoga spots, spas and entertainment centres. The use of the container as a social area brings with it a certain “vibe”. That vibe is not at all community-centred and altogether disregards all of the community building that has previously gone on in that neighbourhood.

The BTA Beach Vision Plan, the BTA Business Plan along with the artist rendition as proposed by the BTA for Shelly Bay definitely coincides with any that you can see in North America, Britain or Continental Europe.

The planned container use is therefore not at all unique, but it is definitely “unBermudian”. It will block the newly acquired and appreciated view and will be an insult to our Shelly Bay Beach neighbourhood and community environment — no matter the pretty colours.

There has been a continuing debate on social media regarding the inclusion of Shelly Bay Beach in the BTA Beach Vision Plan. During this debate, Kevin Dallas, the BTA chief executive, asked the following question: “Why would anyone be against the establishment of three small businesses at Shelly Bay Beach?”

Commenters on social media have, in turn, asked Mr Dallas the following question, one that he has yet to answer: “Taking into consideration that Bermudians take their own food and supplies to the beach, and taking into account that parents of summer camp pack their children’s lunches, how will the BTA ensure the success of the three business investments that are made for Shelly Bay?”

We contend that Mr Dallas was reluctant to answer because the answer for both of these questions are the same.

The BTA or the small businesses will have to solicit that tens to hundreds of tourists are bussed daily to Shelly Bay Beach to patronise those businesses; as done for Horseshoe Bay, Snorkel Park and Tobacco Bay.

For Shelly Bay, this will result in our frequent users — summer camps, families and community groups — being pushed into a corner and eventually pushed off our small beach.

There are some in our community who believe that if we don’t sacrifice all of our public beach space to gentrification and commercialisation, we will remain in the dark ages and not be competitive: if we don’t endorse Shelly Bay for commercialisation, we are destroying dreams of entrepreneurship; opposition to change means “resistance to all change”; protection of our beach and cultural practice at Shelly Bay will turn away the tourism dollar.

Sad as it is, some, misguidedly, will deny that Bermuda has a unique beaching culture.

We believe, however, that the planned actions by the BTA for Shelly Bay Beach will eventually deprive the Hamilton Parish and wider Bermuda community of the open space and continuing opportunity to practise our authentic and cultural Bermuda beach traditions. We strive to maintain freedom from the racket and hustle and bustle of commercialisation at Shelly Bay because we believe we must also cater to that beaching taste.

The community of beachgoers at Shelly Bay do not believe that the BTA, in choosing Shelly Bay for their Beach Vision Plan, has been considerate of Bermudian beaching culture, traditions and practice, or the importance of Shelly Bay as a rare, free, unhindered beaching spot.

We therefore request the BTA to have no authority over what happens at Shelly Bay Beach. We strongly request Shelly Bay Beach to be eliminated as part of their Beach Vision plan.

• Cheryl-Ann Griffin, an area resident spokeswoman, is a retired educator. She served 28 years as a primary schoolteacher in the public system and 11 years as Literacy Co-ordinator at the Berkeley Institute