‘WORST BEACH’ NO LONGER
Relief as water quality passes tests after two years of damaging failure:
ABEACH named as the worst in Wales for water quality two years in a row has finally passed the test.
In 2016 and 2017, the water at Cemaes in Anglesey was given a “poor” rating by Natural Resources Wales (NRW) after pollution was found.
Locals say tourism was affected by the rating, but this year the water quality has been deemed “sufficient”.
In its report, the Welsh Government describes Natural Resources Wales as having undertaken “considerable work” in the area to ensure compliance with the standards.
Derek Owens, chair of Llanbadrig Community Council, which represents Cemaes, said: “We are very pleased to hear that Cemaes Bay’s bathing water is no longer deemed poor.
“The publicity we got last year after it was described as being the poorest in Wales wasn’t good for us at all.
“I believe a lot of businesses were affected but now, thankfully, this news is very positive for us.
“I’d like to thank Natural Resources Wales, Anglesey County Council, Welsh Water and the community council for all working very hard to improve the water quality.”
This year, all 104 desig- nated bathing waters in Wales met the European classifications for quality, with none being classified as “poor”.
The highest classification of “excellent” was given to 78 locations, while 21 were classified as “good” and five as “sufficient”.
Six classifications have gone up and six have gone down, with Tywyn in Gwynedd dropping from “excellent” to “good”.
Most beaches in North and Mid Wales were rated either excellent or good, and the only other beach in North Wales rated as sufficient was Rhyl.
Bathing waters are sampled regularly during the official bathing season, which runs between May 15 and September 30, and classified as either excellent, good, sufficient or poor.
Wales has more Blue Flag beaches per mile than anywhere else in Britain.