 |
National 089/01
4 May 2001
BEACHES ARE SAFER AND CLEANER
THAN EVER
Britain's
beaches are safer and cleaner than ever before according to the
latest Good Beach Guide, published on 4 May 2001 by the Marine
Conservation Society. An outstanding 275 beaches met the Guide's strict
standards, a 28% increase on last year.
Overall, the quality of UK bathing water has improved year on year over
the last decade, largely thanks to Government-led water improvement
programmes carried out by water companies and national environment
agencies. Last year saw a record number of UK bathing areas pass the
main European mandatory standard, 94%, with an even higher figure for
England of 95%.
|
Visit the Good Beach Guide
|
Welcoming the
report, Environment Minister, Michael Meacher said, "Visitors to
our most popular coastal resorts this Bank Holiday can be confident that
our bathing waters are cleaner and safer than ever before. This report
shows that we've made huge progress over the last decade and I'm looking
forward to seeing further annual improvements, thanks to the £600
million investment promised in 1999 to give bathing waters an even
greater level of protection."
This investment was announced in November1999 by the Director General of
Water Services as part of a £7.4 billion water industry package for
water improvements, which includes £600 million to clean up bathing
waters.
By March 2005, the Government intends that:
* all significant sewage discharges will receive at least secondary
level treatment, and that even higher levels of treatment are provided
where necessary to protect bathing or shellfish waters;
* over 3,800 unsatisfactory storm outflow pipes will be improved. These
affect water quality - and often unhygienic sewage, street dirt and
rubbish is deposited on river banks and beaches during rainstorms;
* bathing water standards will improve so that they reach at least 97%
compliance against normal EU standards - and help more resorts to gain
Blue Flag status.
The Marine Conservation Society, a UK charity "dedicated to the
protection of the marine environment and its wildlife", publishes
the Good Beach Guide.
The Good Beach Guide 2001 covers beaches in the Channel Islands and the
Isle of Man, as well as those in the UK. The MCS uses criteria to
determine bathing water quality that are much stricter than those
specified in the EC Bathing Water Directive. In fact, 514 (94%) UK and
375 (95%) English coastal bathing waters passed the
mandatory bacteria coliform standards of the Directive in 2000 and are
described by the EU Commission as "acceptable", in terms of
bathing water quality.
Electronic copies of the Guide are available on the following website.
www.goodbeachguide.co.uk
|
Beach
Safety Message
|
|
