North East beaches clean up again

Jun 5 2008 by Tony Henderson, The Journal

FIVE North East beaches qualify today for Blue Flag awards as a testament to their quality. North Tyneside landed three Blue Flags for Tynemouth’s King Edward’s Bay, Tynemouth Longsands South and Whitley Bay South, while further awards went to Sandhaven at South Shields and Seaton Carew near Hartlepool.

To win a Blue Flag, water quality has to reach the top Guideline level and beaches must also satisfy 28 other criteria covering aspects such as safety, cleanliness, provision of information and environmental issues.

But water quality problems meant that Roker and Seaburn in Sunderland lost their Blue Flags.

Organised internationally by the Foundation for Environmental Education, Blue Flag is administered by environmental charity Encams in England. Over the last six years the number of Blue Flag beaches in England has nearly doubled to 82.

Encams also gives Quality Coast Awards to the best beaches in the country which are well managed but do not reach Blue Flag standards for water quality.

In North Tyneside Quality awards also went to King Edward’s Bay, Tynemouth Longsands South, Whitley Bay South and Cullercoats Bay plus Sandhaven at South Shields and Cresswell Dunes in Northumberland. Cullercoats narrowly missed the required water quality standard for a Blue Flag but comfortably met the lower mandatory standard set out in the EU’s bathing water directive.

North Tyneside Council said it was continuing to work with the Environment Agency and Northumbrian Water to look at ways of further improving water quality at Cullercoats. North Tyneside has more awards for its beaches than any other council between the Scottish Borders and Cleveland and mayor John Harrison said: “Our beaches are one of the borough’s greatest natural attractions. The awards are great news because it means residents and visitors can be sure our beaches are clean and attractive places to enjoy.”

Tracey Dixon, South Tyneside Council lead member for culture, said: “It’s fantastic to see the Blue Flag flying at Sandhaven beach. We all know it’s a great place to be and I’m delighted that our efforts have been officially recognised once again.”

Mel Speding, Sunderland City Council’s portfolio holder for culture and leisure, said: “The temporary fall in water quality ratings for our beaches reflects the national picture and is directly linked to the wettest summer on record last year which had a detrimental environmental effect on beaches around the country. The increased rainfall inevitably led to storm related incidents which impacted on water quality on many beaches and has resulted in Roker and Seaburn losing Blue Flag status, but our continued commitment to maintaining high standards on our coastline means our twin resorts remain safe and pleasant beaches to be enjoyed by the people of Sunderland.”

An Environment Agency spokesman said localised rainstorms could affect water quality at specific beaches.

Daily clean-ups

IN North Tyneside there are daily clean-ups with a beach-raking tractor. This is complemented by the Sandman, a hand-operated mechanical beach cleaner which enables staff to deal with areas not accessible to the tractor and surf rake.

Other initiatives include:

:: Council teams clean proms and collect litter seven days a week, while rapid response teams target litter hotspots as necessary.

:: A team of 48 beach lifeguards ensure the beaches are clean, welcoming and enjoyable places to visit between May and September.

:: Two jet skis are used as rescue crafts to improve patrols and supervision.

A dog ban is in force from May 1 to September 30 on Cullercoats Bay, King Edward’s Bay, Whitley Bay South and Tynemouth Longsands South. This means dogs are only allowed on a section of Whitley Bay beach north of Panama Gardens and at the northern end of Tynemouth Longsands.

Cost deterrent

ONLY one beach in Northumberland wins a Quality Coast award – Cresswell in Castle Morpeth.

The cost of entering for the awards has deterred Alnwick District Council from putting forward any of its beaches.

A spokesman said they had many beautiful beaches in the district which had an excellent reputation. To enter a beach into the awards costs about £300.