AS an attendee of the climate emergency and environment focused Wirral West general election hustings held on Friday in Hoylake, and as a resident of Hoylake, I was pleased to note that there was a level of consensus on the need for us to make changes to the way we do things from now on if we are to have any hope for the future of our planet.

It was disappointing that neither the Conservative nor the Brexit Party candidate came to the meeting to share their views, but I was heartened by our Labour MP Margaret Greenwood's reference to the depth of community spirit in Hoylake, which she felt confident would prevail in dealing with issues around Hoylake beach.

We in Hoylake now understand that Hoylake beach is in process of developing a dune system similar to that found to the south of Red Rocks going towards West Kirby because we have had some of the science explained to us in public meetings (and incidentally, no-one is disputing this fact).

We now also have a cabinet member for the environment, Liz Grey, who is taking this issue seriously.

The beach as an amenity matters to all of us.

I was shocked and concerned to find that, on the very morning after the environmental hustings, a small but seemingly organised gang of people chose to block Margaret’s campaign headquarters where volunteers needed access, thus causing a nuisance.

They claimed that they wished to air the issue of Hoylake beach.

But if they really cared about the environment and didn’t just want a cheap publicity stunt, they would have come to the environmental hustings the night before and gone through the democratic channels there.

I am taking away with me the strong feeling that, unlike Margaret’s positive vision of members of the community working alongside the best science in looking into how best to go forward with beach maintenance, a small group of people are determined to suffuse the whole issue with the same amount of poison as has recently been sprayed on the beach.

Marie Watson by email.