New Environment Agency data shows Fylde Coast's bathing waters aren't improving - and that's unacceptable
Increase in 'poor' bathing waters across England also branded a 'disgrace' by Fylde Coast Against Sewage
The continued state of beaches on the Fylde Coast is unacceptable.
That was the response from a key local campaigner to the latest Environment Agency data, published today (26 November) which showed no year-on-year improvement to the quality of bathing waters locally.
St Annes North and Blackpool North were classified as poor, St Annes, Blackpool South and Blackpool Central as sufficient and only Bispham, Cleveleys and Fleetwood as good.
Dr Barbara Kneale, chair of Fylde Coast Against Sewage, told The Blackpool Lead: “On the Fylde Coast we have two no-bathing beaches, Blackpool North and St Annes North, and three beaches that are only sufficient. This is unacceptable.”
While there was no change the the classifications locally - the Fylde Coast already being a comparatively challenged area in this regard - the percentage of England’s bathing waters classed as poor increased from 4.3% to 8.2%.
She continued: “The fact that the number of poor beaches has increased nationally is a disgrace and in fact flies in the face of the water companies who are trying to convince the public that they are taking this issue seriously.
“It would seem that profit remains their top priority rather than public health and the environment and that they are happy to increase our bills for any infrastructure and other improvements. Increasing fines seems only to result in the cost being past onto the customer.”
Fylde Coast Against Sewage has been working with Fleetwood Town Council and Fylde Council to implement water testing on a year-round basis, rather than just in the summer months, at beaches to the north and south of Blackpool.
Dr Kneale added: “We welcome the interventions by the current government but it is yet to be seen what impact these interventions will have on the behaviour of the water companies. But is this a case of ‘too little too late’? How long and how many opportunities do we allow the water companies?
“We believe that it is time that the water companies acknowledged their failures and began to remedy the poor performance over the past decades .
“All things considered these results have shown that privatisation of the water industry has failed with declining performance and increasing bills. Enough is enough, we must now look at bringing them back into public ownership .
“The water companies have had decades to improve the situation but instead we have had false promises and increased bills."
Fylde Coast Against Sewage would like residents in the area to get involved in the work they do - all of which is on a voluntary basis. You can follow what they’re up to on Facebook here. They are meeting at Beachcombers Café, St Annes North Beach at 6.30pm tomorrow (27 November).
Emma Hardy, the government’s water minister, said: “These figures are unacceptable and show that too many of our popular swimming spots are polluted.
“That’s why we are placing water companies under special measures through the Water Bill, which will strengthen regulation including new powers to ban the payment of bonuses for polluting water bosses and bring criminal charges against persistent law breakers.
“This is just the start – we’ve launched the largest review of the water sector since privatisation to attract the investment we need and reform the water system to help clean up our rivers, lakes and seas for good.”
“Following today’s results, the Environment Agency is working with local partners to take targeted action to improve water quality at all bathing water classified as ‘Poor’.
“The results follow the launch on 12 November of a Government consultation on proposed reforms to bathing water regulations to ensure a more flexible approach to designation and monitoring. This includes assessing water quality and the feasibility of improvement at a site prior to designation.”