Council spends £125k building beach huts with no sea view - guess how many have been rented out

The 'nostalgic' huts - which cost £900 to £1,100 to rent each year - are situated next to a block of toilets and nestled behind the dunes of Par Sands beach in St Austell, Cornwall

Locals have lashed out after a council spent £125,000 on beach huts that don't even have a sea view.

The simple huts sit on a patch of land next to Par Sands beach near St Austell in Cornwall. They were built six years ago despite residents arguing they were a waste of money. The huts were constructed behind the dunes at the beach's edge and next to a block of toilets, which locals found bizarre, especially considering there was no sea view to speak of.

Cornwall councillor for Par and St Blazey argued that there had been "overwhelming support" for the plans at the time, adding that anyone could rent or use the huts. Six years later, a Freedom of Information Act (FOI) request shows how the council has failed to get a return on its £175,000 investment because they've never been rented out.

In those years, the huts have earned no money because the council has been unable to employ someone to manage them. The council claims that it has a list of people who would like to rent one once a managing tenant is found, reports the MailOnline.

Many locals were keen on the "nostalgic" feel to the huts, but that the whopping sum could be better spent elsewhere - like cleaning the beach or removing the mountains of seaweed that are washed up along the shore. The FOI response reads: "The huts at Par have not been let out to date and have provided no revenue income." For the smaller huts, which measured 5ft by 6ft, would-be tenants were asked to pay £900 per year. The larger 8ft by 6ft huts cost £200 more at £1,100.

The council response continued: "The beach hut installation was finalised in 2019, meaning that the first year they were available for operation was 2020, which was affected by the lockdowns of the Covid pandemic, and they were not let out for that reason. Since then, Cornwall Council has run three open tender rounds with an aim to secure a managing tenant, the latest in Spring 2024 and seeks to run another open round of tenders in advance of the 2025 season."