Is there another Maidens?
Disbelief at Keep Scotland Beautiful award for Ayrshire beach
“This beach is disgusting and absolutely stinks of sewerage. Maidens beach was raked about once last year and certainly hasn’t been touched this year.
“South Ayrshire Council should be ashamed of themselves.
“I called SEPA a few weeks ago asking them to investigate what we thought was leaking sewerage from nearby fields possibly using human slurry as manure, however apparently after checking this out SEPA seemed to think beach was okay too but did agree it was very smelly.”
A spokesperson from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency ( SEPA) confirmed a staff member had attended the site, and there was no sewage sludge or slurry spreading in adjacent fields at that time.
They said: “SEPA received a complaint from a member of the public on May 24 regarding the presence of a substance on Maidens Beach.
“A SEPA officer attended Maidens Beach to investigate, and confirmed the presence of seaweed which had been washed up during stormy conditions.”
SEPA said that under the right conditions accumulated seaweed can rot producing grey or black fluid.
“Rotting seaweed can also generate offensive odours, in an entirely natural process.
A spokesperson for Keep Scotland Beautiful said: “The criteria for the Scotland’s Beach Awards are designed to reflect the whole visitor experience and recognise excellence for different characteristics, from on- site facilities to access and information provision.
“We are actively encouraging communities across Scotland to get involved in looking after the beaches they use and to work with Keep Scotland Beautiful to help make littering unacceptable.
“Further information about the beach award winners and how to get involved can be found at: www. keepscotlandbeautiful. org/ beach.”
And a South Ayrshire Council spokesman added: “Our beaches are very important not only to visitors but to locals too, so they are cleaned regularly. Rural beaches like Maidens do not see the high number of visitors like some of our other beaches but they are also maintained on an ongoing basis.
“Maidens beach is located between two sites of scientific interest and is home to important species some of which are quite rare. In order to protect the ecology, we clean the beach in accordance with the Environmental Protection Act, hand picking litter to avoid the use of heavy machinery.
“The smell sometimes present on beaches is a combination of seaweed and algae and is completely natural. The seaweed at Maidens is a very important part of the beach ecosystem and can’t be removed.
“SEPA has rated the water quality as ‘ good’ which is the second best standard in Europe.
“Representatives from Keep Scotland Beautiful visited Maidens and decided to give a prestigious Scotland Beach Award as they were impressed with the environmental quality of the beach.”