Beached shipwrecks - seasonal? pedestrian access?
Arnecouwelier-PGO
Posts: 8 ✭✭
So, last weekend I spend around 100km from my house, going for a walk in Bray-Dunes, France.
The walk through the dunes, was featuring a tour along three old shipwrecks which become visible (and reachable) during low tide. I've nominated two as portals, and got surprisingly swift feedback (under 5 days, while my hometown ones are stuck for 3+months).
Supporting info clearly states they are only accessible over the beach during low tide. One of them has a memorial plaque with info, so they are clearly left there intentionally.
They were both rejected with a few reasons:
- Pedestrian access. I mean - it's a beach.. what more pedestrian access could one want?
- Seasonal display. It's not like they remove the shipwrecks and take them indoors at night or during winter. Nor is it a temporary exhibit, they shipwrecks have been there for 80+ years.
There is indeed no streetview imagery, and on aerial it'll look like it's in the sea if it's a high-tide picture. It was tough enough getting a picture without people in it - let alone try and create a photosphere with people walking around.
Is the general consensus here it was correct to not approve for the reasons listed above? I don't mean to use this as a rant - I'm genuinely curious if I should avoid using nominations for things like this. They tick history / cultural very well, you just cannot consistenly reach them 24/7.
Best Answer
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flatmatt-PGO
Posts: 257 ✭✭✭
Thank you for providing those images. Yes, that would be exactly what Casey was talking about, as posted earlier in the thread. If there is an informational sign or plaque above the high-tide line, that could work, but those locations would not be considered to have safe pedestrian access.
Answers
Can we see what the photos you submitted looked like?
Normal shipwrecks that are left there are prone to be cleaned up and temporary. But in this case, the sign with info says they're on display, which makes that a historical site. I think those wrecks are excellent POIs if they are really there forever. Try to find out if the wrecks are there indefinitely (like on local news or tourist websites) and inform the reviewer of this. Also, maybe submit the sign next time, so the reviewer can read that text as well. You can add photo's later.
Also, a Wayspot doesn't need to be available 24hours a day . After all, most parks close after sundown, but all the portals there are perfectly fine too. I've seen it before, reviewers using the 'temporary' reject reason for this. I think they are incorrect; Seasonal/Temporary means: the POI will be gone in the forseeable future, or recurs only once a year/month/whatever.
In short: try, and try again. :)
@Jeroenix-ING Unfortunately, I'm not going back there any time soon. Ideally, when I get home, I dig up the info / websites / etc.. to match and edit it in.. But got taken by surprise that they went in voting so fast.
Yes, I thought I had submitted them here in response, but they don't appear to be showing up. I may have to redo.
EDIT: replies awaiting approval due to images included. Might turn out as a double post.
Niantic Casey has actually recently addressed similar things, due to them being unreachable at high tide, it makes the pedestrian access bad. If you could get a sign for them that's permanent that would be ok
To be clear, @NianticCasey-ING passed along information DIRECT from the "Wayfarer Team".
ANYTHING that is inaccessible at high tide is to be rejected as "unsafe pedestrian access". This is ENTIRELY a separate issue from any other "limited-time access" locations, such as periodically locked gates.
In the first case, the POI is literally impossible to access without entering water. In the latter case, anybody actually on site (such as members of the gated community, the overnight security guard, etc) ARE still able to safely access the POI.
Good to know, I thought that it followed the same rule as gated portals, inaccessible at closing times.
I'll keep it in mind if I'm ever at a beach. :)
btw, for the sake of completeness: is there a source somewhere of Casey's aforementioned remarks on tides?
Here it is:
First one:
Location:
Second one:
location:
Supporting image:
Thank you for providing those images. Yes, that would be exactly what Casey was talking about, as posted earlier in the thread. If there is an informational sign or plaque above the high-tide line, that could work, but those locations would not be considered to have safe pedestrian access.