facelift.

Government has applied to the Planning Department for permission to create new shower and changing facilities at Horseshoe Beach in Southampton.

A spokeswoman for the Department of Works and Engineering, which will handle the renovations, said the alterations and additions to the facility were necessary because of the intense pressure they were under.

"More people are using Horseshoe Bay,'' she noted, "and the facilities there need to be brought up to a much better standard because of the intense pressure on them.'' New showers, changing and toilet facilities -- which will be wheelchair accessible -- are set to be installed but the restaurant, which is leased to a private business, will not be affected by the work.

Visitors to the Island are also set to be largely unaffected by the work which will start shortly and hopefully last no longer than 12 weeks. The spokeswoman noted: " We are striving to get the work completed before the tourist season starts.'' Plans for the upgrading of the facilities originally emerged in July, 1998, when a portable toilet trailer had to be set up at the site to cope with the some 7,000 visitors who descended on the beaches mid-week and put a massive strain on the 25-year-old toilet block which contained three cubicles for women and two for men.

Work was set at that time to begin in November but the General Election in November nixed those plans.

National Liberal Party official Graeme Outerbridge then called the situation horrendous and demanded that Government get a grip on the situation.

PLANNING PLN