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Yorkshire's beaches on their way to being some of the best in Europe
15 May
Environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy has today announced
that this year Yorkshire has 17 award-winning beaches, including
seven which have been awarded the coveted Blue Flag, highlighting
the top standards of cleanliness, safety, water quality and
environmental management at these resorts.
The East Riding of Yorkshire has this year secured a full
complement of Blue Flags for its four resort beaches, including
Bridlington a hugely popular holiday destination, which has
regained both its two Blue Flags, alongside Hornsea and Withernsea
which have also achieved the award once again.
Beaches in North Yorkshire have also faired well with Filey Bay,
Whitby West Cliff and Scarborough North Bay all retaining their
existing Blue Flag status.
Improvements recently completed at Yorkshire Water’s Scarborough
waste water treatment works means that Scarborough South Bay is on
its way to becoming another Blue Flag flying beach, with more
improvement work by the company planned for the next two years.
Many of the region's other beaches were very highly rated too,
with 13 of them receiving coveted Quality Coast Awards (QCAs) which
recognise and reward beaches that achieve the highest standards of
beach management. Among the 13 are Filey Bay, Cayton Bay,
Robin Hood's Bay, Runswick Bay, Sandsend, Whitby West Cliff,
Scarborough North Bay and Scarborough South Bay
in North Yorkshire.
Today's announcement is great news for the multi-agency
partnership which has been working since 2010 to secure the highest
quality bathing waters for Yorkshire’s beaches under new, more
stringent standards due to come into force from 2015.
Consisting of Yorkshire Water, the Environment Agency, Welcome
to Yorkshire, Scarborough Borough Council, East Riding of Yorkshire
Council and North Yorkshire County Council, the partnership is
working together to try and achieve eight blue flags for
Yorkshire’s coast. Work is already underway by the partnership to
meet the requirements of the new European Directive which has set
these much tighter quality standards. Members of the
partnership have, over the past 18 months been tackling different
sources of pollution including overflows from sewers and local
watercourses.
The work of the partnership is set to deliver massive
environmental, economic and social benefits to local communities
and Yorkshire as a whole.
Graham Dixon, Yorkshire Water’s Director of Production said:
"Its great news that so many of Yorkshire’s
beaches will be able to fly their Blue Flags this year. We’re
committed to playing our part in securing these Blue Flags for
years to come by investing in our coastal assets like sewers, pumps
and treatment facilities.
"We’ve just completed a really important stage
of work at Scarborough to improve the town’s bathing water quality
and we’re well underway with other improvements as part of our £110
million investment on the Yorkshire coast."
Brian Bennett, Head of Tourism and Culture at Scarborough
Borough Council added:
“It is excellent news that so many of our borough’s beaches have
won quality coast awards and particularly Whitby, Filey and
Scarborough North Bay, which once again have secured the coveted
Blue Flag. This news will be very much welcomed by residents,
visitors and the many businesses that
rely on the tourism economy.
“The investment Yorkshire Water is currently making in
Scarborough together with the work of the
Yorkshire Bathing Water Partnership will bring further
improvements to bathing water quality and
hopefully help us to secure a Blue Flag for Scarborough South
Bay in the future.”
For more information on the regional bathing waters partnership
initiative and its aims, visit
www.yorkshirewater.com/yorkshirebeaches