Sale of the Furness Foreshore

Now thanks to you all, we're a little wiser . .

What is actually for sale:

A long strip of common land, very narrow and very long; what most of us would call "the beach". It is the land between the mean highwater mark which is placed on all ordinance maps and the nearest private property to the sea. It stretches from Aldingham, along the shore  to the Barrow boundary. In this case and probably all over Britain this is available for use by the general public and many ways that we know by instinct through having spent time on 'the beech' from childhood. In this case it was designated in 1972 as common land and was owned by the crown. It could well be - as is claimed by Howard Whittaker - owned by John Poole, the senior partner of Poole Townsend of Barrow. As you see they are a modern day combination of solicitors, estate agents and financial services.
As with many property photos, the pictures do not necessarily denote what is for sale. Anything on land below high water mark is part of the sea and not saleable (ownable?) Anything on what could be described as 'private land' for instance Sea Wood which is owned by a trust is not for sale.

The puzzle is why would you have want to own the land in question as it is common land and the future owner would have no more priveleges than any member of the public. So one wonders my John Poole purchased it when he did for something in the region of £250 and does he now have any priviledges that the rest of us don't have.

My second puzzle is why is Whitaker selling it (which he started to do in October 2012 without much success, to people who live nearby. Why doesn't John Poole use his own firm the well established estate agent firm of PooleTownsend ? Furthermore now when you enquire of both the Barrow and Ulverston offices of the Corrie they have no information on their books about the property for sale. They refer all enquiries to Whitaker. Could this be that they are a little ashamed of selling something that is actually worth no more than what you think it is. By buying this common land you will gain no more privileges than any other adult member of the public despite the impression you may gain from the Whitaker brochure. For this reason some people might describe the sale as a scam as you walk out the sale room with something others would describe as worthless. The value of what you buy depends entirely on what value  you place on it. Perhaps it's like buying a title "Owner of the Common Land of Low Furness"

The land is in fact more than just 'common land' - it is a Site Special of Scientific Interest and thus have an organisation very concerned about what happens on the land - "Natural England"

It would make a lot of sense if this property was withdrawn for sale and that John Poole continued to look after the SSSI Common Land in the excellent way he has done over the past thirty odd years.