Bournemouth, Food & Drink | Posted on October 14th, 2026 | return to news

Sobo Beach wins 11-month reprieve

Sobo Beach, Southbourne’s bar and community hub gets a license extension of almost a year.

Southbourne residents, communities and groups are celebrating after a council U-turn at last night’s (13 October) meeting. Sobo Beach was granted an extension of its operating license to continue to deliver community-focused services.

At the full council meeting, in the face of a 10,000-strong signature petition backing the bar against the leadership’s position of “the law is the law,” an amendment was added to the debate. It allows Sobo Beach to operate for an additional 11 months, rather than closing at the end of this October.

That allows for another winter and summer of events for the multiple community groups, charities and beach users who take advantage of the unique location and space that has built up over the years.

Watching from a packed chamber and online (over 4,200 people have viewed the livestream), Cllr George Farquar and Sobo owner Rich Slater spoke to discuss the petition and the hundreds of comments it generated.

Cllr Farquar said “Not one of the communications I have received has been negative. The sentiment over Sobo Beach has been captured in over 800 comments as part of the petition, can you describe any negative sentiment?” To which Slater replied, “There have been 11 negative comments, mostly about the price of food.” Before praising the eloquent level of support.

Setting the amendment, Cllr Richard Herrett said, “It’s clear there is a huge amount of love for the Sobo Beach operation… The preferred bidder has stated their willingness to discuss potential short-term agreements that would allow for as little disruption to the wider community as possible. We will work with both parties to achieve the smoothest possible transition.”

Leader of the Council Millie Earl concluded “I have an amendment to the recommendation set out by Cllr Herrett which we’ve come up with since cabinet, and since we’ve had huge representations from passionate local residents. The preferred bidder has expressed to us the importance of keeping the site community focused, active and accessible. They are committed to working with the council to ensure a collaborative and smooth transition that is in the best interests of everybody. This includes a fixed term lease of 11 months (1 November to 30 September 2027) to provide continuity.”

Discussing the longer-term debate over the new tender and license decisions, responding to a question from Cllr Sara Armstrong. Slater said, “There was no meaningful consultation with the public. I’ve spoken with members of the Coastal BID, Destination Management Board and other various influential organisations, who were not consulted either. But that’s a debate for another day.”

Commenting online today, Sobo owner Rich Slater said, “A thank you, from all of us at Team SOBO to every single person who has signed, shared, spoken up, shown up, sent a message or simply let us know what SOBO means to you – thank you. We’ve felt that love more than we can put into words.”