Bembridge Parish Council have written a stern letter of complaint to the Environment Agency over recent press reports revealing that Bembridge beach has been placed on a Blacklist by the Environment Agency.
The reports suggested that 45 beaches across the UK, including Bembridge, may face closure next year because of sewage contamination.
Detrimental impact on the local economy
The parish council say the press reports could have a detrimental impact on the local economy and argue the publicity is “extremely premature considering the bathing water directive changes do not come into force until the end of the season in 2015, well over a year away”.
The letter reads,
Bembridge Parish Council are astonished to find the report in the Sunday Times dated 16th March 2014 entitled ‘Kiss me quick before 45 beaches close’ and the references made by South Today aired on 17th March 2014 following an interview given to them by the Environment Agency.
The negative spin in these reports are detrimental to Bembridge in a number of ways for our local economy. This interview and publicity is extremely premature considering the bathing water directive changes do not come into force until the end of the season in 2015, well over a year away.
Bembridge Parish Council has raised a vast amount of concerns regarding the data and classifications proposed by the Environment Agency. The answers provided have been somewhat unsatisfactory. The cause of the pollution cannot be sought. There are no patterns to the data just ‘episodic’. The monitoring point is under question as to whether it meets the requirements of a regularly used bather’s beach and it is located next to a storm drain. There is no information on effects to human health or reported medical problems (as
it is not within the remit of the Environment Agency) even though the aim of the bathing water directive is to protect bathers.The need to raise awareness is fully appreciated but unfortunately this in our opinion is not raising awareness to assist us with improving the rating. It’s simply made negative and untrue conclusions about Bembridge beaches which could have a catastrophic effect on our local economy.
It is felt that the working group who are currently meeting quarterly need to be meeting more frequently to work towards improving the rating in Bembridge before the end of the season in 2015. The Parish Council are more than willing to meet more frequently and work towards improvement in the rating and raising awareness effectively.
The Sunday Times article
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Image: Simon Haytack under CC BY 2.0
