Cornish beach for sale to highest bidder

By delilahc | Monday, July 06, 2009, 12:02

If you’ve ever fancied owning your own beach in Cornwall, now’s your chance. Gwithian beach in the north east of St Ives Bay is being sold at auction in London next week.

The stretch of coastline comes under the hammer on July 13 and features 71 acres of golden sand and five acres of dunes. The guide price is £50,000, but the sale has attracted interest from as far away as China and America, so bids may exceed this figure.

The stunning location was the inspiration for Virginia Woolf's novel To The Lighthouse and provides a perfect place for surfing when conditions are right.

Planning rules mean the new owner will not be able to build on the land or excavate minerals from the sand. It must also remain open to the public.

The beach is being sold by Colliers CRE at its Portman Square auction house.

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Comments

how does anyone have the right to 'buy a beach', this shouldn't be 'owned' by anyone, it's a natural piece of land and sea, and no-one should have th right to own it, I just don't understand how this can be acceptable.

Just imagine hypothetically, if all beaches in England were sold, and made private, we'd never be able to go on a beach in this country again, the concept just isn't right....

By scatpants at 14:52 on 10/10/09
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Just looking at the stories on the site and came across this one. A private buyer from London, originally from Cornwall, got the beach for £80,000: tinyurl.com/lpz94u

By EricGen at 16:07 on 26/08/09
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I believe it is owned by one of the trustees of the Hall for Cornwall and he's auctioning it to raise funds for new development at the HoC.

By Quincy_ME at 13:25 on 09/07/09
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Selling a beach?? If I had a beach, I'd hold on to it for dear life.
Why are they selling it? I can't help but wonder... radioactive waste in the water? Sea monsters?

By Fizzwizz at 12:59 on 09/07/09
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Sounds like a lot of responsibility considering littering habits... it needs to remain public yet owner must keep clean... ahem...

By INLUMINO at 12:34 on 08/07/09
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