4 OCTOBER 1935, Page 3

Planning the Seaside The Health Resorts Association, which has been

holding its annual. meeting at Margate, is doing useful Ivork in two. respects—.--in showing that British health resorts. are Worth visiting, and how they may be made More worth visiting. It is inevitable, with the desired And deSirable rush to the sea in the summer and the increasing number of those who reside by it, that the towns and villages all round the coast should become more populous. Continuous built-up areas border the sea in many regions ; in others access to the shore is Prevented by private monopolisation of land ; hundreds Of miles of coast are either already spoilt by thoughtless building or are likely to be spoilt. Mr. Clough Williams- tills and Mr. Wesley' Dougill urged sea-side planning both in the higher interests of the public and in the interests of those who seek its patronage. We go to. the sea for open spaces, for undefiled headlands ; if these are not preserved the attraction is diminished. But planning is not enough. Some so-called planning, assists the jerry-builders in the perpetration of horrors. every sea-side municipality should have an expert town-planner on its staff.