UK's seaside town crisis revealed as councils 'too busy making seafronts pretty'

Councils in UK seaside towns have been accused of being "too busy making seafronts pretty" as new research laid bare the mental health crisis for young people living in coastal areas. According to recent research, young individuals residing in the most disadvantaged coastal areas of England are up to three times more likely to be experiencing undiagnosed mental health issues compared to those living further inland.

Experts from Essex University's Centre for Coastal Communities carried out research on 28,000 adults across the UK to see how different generations experience life in Britain. The study analysed responses from adults living in England's coastal and inland areas between 2018 and 2023. Participants had high scores on a widely recognised mental distress scale, despite having no formal diagnosis. The researchers highlighted a stark "coastal mental health gap," revealing that young people in towns like Tendring in the east and Blackpool and Liverpool in the west are enduring significantly higher levels of mental distress - frequently in isolation and without support.

Levels of deprivation were assessed using the official indices provided by the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government.

Researchers said that young people are suffering disproportionately and without help, and warned that unless they are given a voice, problems will continue to mount up, reports The Guardian.

Emily Murray, director of Essex University's centre for coastal communities: "We don't yet know why these young people are being left out but one reason might be that they are not demanding the help in the way the older generation is, or if they are, they are not having their voices heard."

Ceilidh Bardsley, 21, who lives in Weston-super-Mare, described living in a town where it feels as if tourists are given priority.

She told The Guardian: "A lot of emphasis is put into the main seafront for things to look nice. But then you look around the estates, and there are potholes everywhere, shop fronts are falling down and there's mould in many of the houses."

Prof Sheena Asthana, co-director of the Centre for Coastal Communities at the University of Plymouth, said: "The Essex research confirms our own analysis that signals of poor mental health among young people, such as hospital admissions for self-harm, are disproportionately higher on the coast.

"The very high rates of undiagnosed mental health in deprived coastal areas suggest that the government might want to explore whether long waiting times for children and young people's mental health services are to blame."