Olympic viewing venue: Castle Cove Beach to go under the hammer (From Dorset Echo)

Olympic viewing venue: Castle Cove Beach to go under the hammer

11:00am Wednesday 18th July 2012 in Local News

A PICTURESQUE beach has come on the market – just in time to enjoy the Olympic sailing events.

Castle Cove Beach, off Old Castle Road in Weymouth, is to be auctioned on July 26 at The Ageas cricket ground in Southampton.

The previous owner, who ran The Shack cafe for 18 months, is reluctantly selling the beach.

The bid which she originally won on her lunch break was said to be a once-in-a-lifetime chance but now the beach, which overlooks Portland Harbour, is available once more.

There has been a lot of interest in Castle Cove, known locally as Sandsfoot Beach, because of its prime location and the ideal views of the sailing Olympics taking place at Portland Harbour from July 28.

The sandy cove is set to go under the hammer with a guide price of £65,000 to £75,000 but after the huge amount of interest in the bid it is expected to break that barrier.

Planning permission for eight beach huts lapsed after the beach was given up for auction and no further information is known whether the plans will go ahead once the beach is auctioned off.

Rob Marchant, an auctioneer for Clive Emson, said: “It’s not every day a beach is in our catalogue.

“Castle Cove has proven to be an interesting lot.”

Quelling worries about the nature of the beach once it is sold, Marchant added: “Whoever buys the beach will have an obligation to stay open to the public. These days you can’t just turn public beaches into private ones.”

Marchant also added: “Castle Cove Beach may well be a lovely location to watch the Olympic sailing events, perhaps with the benefit of binoculars as well.”

With the sailing events starting two days after the auction, the beach could prove to be a lucky bidder’s VIP seats to the 2012 sailing Olympics. Castle Cove Beach was previously available for auction 18 months ago when a 45-year-old Hampshire woman bought the beach for £86,000.

There was a huge amount of interest in the beach from celebrities including Chris Evans and Barbara Windsor; however the bidder had only seen the sale that day.

There was also interest from naturists in the auction who wanted to use Castle Cove for a private spot away from prying eyes.

In the past there have been fears over how a naturist-owned beach would change some family’s experience, with many people making complaints to the council.

There have been a lot of changes to Castle Cove beach over the years, including the opening of a fast food outlet which sparked controversy over the private, family beach becoming too commercialised.