Naturists unite to fight the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill

Naturists and everyone who loves freedom are being urged by British Naturism (BN) to write to their MP to oppose legislation that will be used by some councils to discriminate against minority groups. At present bye laws have to be approved by a Secretary of State which gives naturists and other minority groups vital protection against prejudiced councils. Also, bye laws are tiresome to enforce which protects everybody against petty use. If the Local Government and Public Involvement in Health Bill goes through as proposed then bye laws will be easy to create, easy to enforce, easy to abuse and a profit making opportunity for both councils and contractors.

Bye laws will be enforceable by anyone authorised by the council, including contractors, and the money collected will be available to pay the wages. In other words your friendly neighbourhood wheel clamper could be enforcing bye laws as a profit making industry. If the race discrimination legislation can be flouted by contractors as happened recently in one north east town then what chance is there for naturists and other minority groups?

British Naturism’s National Research and Liaison Officer Malcolm Boura, said:
“We want everyone who enjoys the harmless, sensible and where appropriate perfectly legal activity of going without clothes to know that this simple freedom is under threat. We also want the politicians to realise what this could mean for people everywhere and how strongly people will react when they find out what is being done. Enforcement of bye laws is already subject to abuse. For example a Dad was prosecuted recently for playing football in a park - he was playing ball with a toddler. Under the new scheme he would not have any realistic right of appeal."

“There are huge numbers of moribund byelaws that will be brought to life again by this legislation and the Department for Community and Local Government (DCLG) doesn't even know what they are. There is no central record of bye laws and indeed even the councils themselves sometimes don't know what they are. The DCLG is letting a genie out of the bottle and they don't have a clue what it actually is. The only solution is to either scrap these parts of the Bill or to revoke the bye laws and start again. Already one doesn’t know what the law is without spending 10 minutes reading the byelaws at the entrance to every park, every time a parish boundary is crossed or indeed anywhere and this Bill means that they will be added to without the sensible step of government approval. Do not assume that bye laws are sensible. There is at least one bye law that requires swim suits to cover from the neck to the knees!"

“The DCLG previously assured us that we will be able to contest byelaws through the magistrates courts but that is absolutely no reassurance at all. Councillors use our money to pay for court cases but members of the public have to pay for themselves and of course magistrates and councillors are often from the same group. Despite numerous attempts to obtain replies from the DCLG they have not responded to our concerns."

"An up to the minute briefing sheet is available from both the British Naturism office and the web site www.british-naturism.org.uk to enable people to find out more and help us to tackle the potential problem.

“Naturism is not illegal in the UK and naturists always conduct themselves properly and with respect to other people. We will be fighting hard to ensure that our freedom is not eroded.

- ENDS -

Contacts:
Research and Liaison Officer:
Malcolm Boura 07734 964435
rlo@british-naturism.org.uk

BN Commercial Manager:
Andrew Welch 020 8123 2269
07774 955138
commercial.manager@british-naturism.org.uk



Notes for Editors

· British Naturism is the UK’s officially recognised naturist organisation. It exists to support and unite naturists around the UK and celebrated its 40th anniversary in 2004, although previous incarnations have been in existence since the 1930s.

· Amongst the aims of BN are to campaign for more naturist places to be made available and to protect naturists against discrimination.

· In the UK, there are over 150 sun clubs, swim clubs and holiday resorts and 12 officially designated naturist beaches, with many more being used regularly by naturists. Membership of BN is around 15,000 people.

· 2007 sees a huge number of events for naturists at fantastic public venues, such as the Eden Project and Alton Towers. In June, British Naturism are organising a weekend of activities at Nudefest2007, the first event of its kind.

· BN co-produced Bare Britain, with Lifestyle Press in June 2005, a guidebook to naturism and naturist places in the UK. It is available in bookshops up and down the country, a landmark step for a book on this subject, and has become a best-seller. www.british-naturism.org.uk/pages/pages.asp?page_ID=49 A new guidebook from Lifestyle Press – the World Best Nude Beaches and Resorts – is to be published on 23 June 2007. See www.lifestyle-press.co.uk for details.

· YBN (Young British Naturists) has a membership of young men and women between the ages of 16 and 30 who get together at clubs and beaches many weekends. They represented the UK at the International Naturist Federation (INF) Youth Rally held in France in 2005 and will be hosting the Rally in the UK in 2007 – see www.british-naturism.org.uk/news/detail.asp?article_ID=48 for details.

· Naturism is good for you. Naturists report improvements in well-being, stress, chronic illness, self-esteem and body image.

· British Naturism have adopted the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) as their President’s Charity of the Year. We are raising funds and awareness and working with them to raise money for their causes. Naturists will be participating in the MCS Coastal Challenge in May 2007.

· For more information on British Naturism, please visit our website at
www.british-naturism.org.uk/ For the media, there is a dedicated “Media Centre” at www.british-naturism.org.uk/mediacentre/ which contains useful information for those wishing to write about naturism or feature this wonderful world in their publications or programmes, including a downloadable Media Information Pack. There is also a contact page at www.british-naturism.org.uk/contact/ to ensure that any enquiries are directed to the right person and gain an appropriate and speedy reply.