THE OWNERS of the popular Christchurch watersports company Shoresports remain “slightly confident” the council will return a contract to them, despite a petition being rejected. 

Shoresports, which has been operating in Mudeford Quay for more than 11 years, recently lost its contract to operate after BCP Council handed the tender over to another business. 

That business, Shoresports owner Nick May said, doesn’t offer as many watersports as his company and Nick has also spent £30,000 on new equipment which he fears will go to waste. 

Read more: Shoresports lose licence at Mudeford Quay after BCP issue new licence

In response, he set up an online petition which gained more than 3,000 signatures in the hope that BCP Council would reverse their decision. The council have since rejected that petition. 

Nick told the Echo: “We knew that the council would not look at the petition because you have to have the BCP Council logo on it. 

“But it was worth doing anyway because it was a success – around 3,000 people signed it – and it shows the council people think it is outrageous. 

Bournemouth Echo:

“The council are currently doing due diligence and we will have to wait and see what will happen next. 

“I feel slightly hopeful because the council has seen there is an uproar about the tender going to somebody who will not offer what I can.” 

BCP Council told Nick they rejected the petition as it was not conducted on its website’s e-petition portal. 

A spokeswoman for BCP Council said: “The petition submitted by the proprietor of ShoreSports does not meet the criteria set out in BCP Council’s constitution for consideration.

“Under the constitution we do not accept a petition if there is an alternative route to challenge the decision, which in this case, is our formal complaints and appeals procedure. 

“Consequently, we advised ShoreSports if they wished to challenge the decision, to submit an appeal. 

“An appeal has been received which challenges the tender process. This will now be reviewed by a senior manager to ensure the process was fair and transparent, and a response will be provided directly to ShoreSports in due course.” 

Nick said he has been “sympathetic” to the council’s decision-making, saying that Covid and the merging of BCP in 2019, meant they have been up against time and financial pressures.