Why is this our region’s only Blue Flag beach?
N.WALES HAD 17 IN 2021... BUT ONLY DENBIGHSHIRE EVEN APPLIED THIS YEAR
DESPITE clear waters and stunning sands many of the region’s finest beaches will not be flying the Blue Flag this summer.
Keep Wales Tidy last week revealed which of Wales’s beaches had achieved Blue Flag status, an international awards scheme recognising safety and environmental standards.
There was a notable absence of any beaches in north west Wales in spite of the counties containing some of the best coastal areas around the nation.
It was a similar situation last year when a new rule meant those counties again missed out despite no actual change in water or beach quality.
Prior to that in 2021, the region had 17 beaches on the list - with a full list of names in panel, right.
This time around Anglesey, Gwynedd and Conwy councils did not even apply.
It left Prestatyn – in Denbighshire – as the sole recipients of a Blue Flag in North Wales while Silver Bay Holiday Park, a private enterprise on Anglesey made a successful Green Coast Award application for the nearby Silver Bay.
Our sister paper The Daily Post approached the councils over the decision. They have now released this joint statement.
They said: “Our beaches are as clean, safe and popular as they have always been.
“Water quality is measured regularly, with many beaches achieving the highest standard of ‘excellent.’
“Blue Flag is just one accreditation scheme which evaluates beaches based on various criteria.
“Some of the requirements are expensive, onerous and at odds with established beach management arrangements in North West Wales so we decided not to apply this year.
“Our beaches remain amongst the best in Wales and will continue to attract thousands of visitors again this summer.”
A spokesperson for Keep Wales Tidy said: “This year local authorities of Gwynedd, Conwy and Anglesey chose not to submit any applications to Keep Wales Tidy for the Wales Coastal which includes the Blue Flag, Seaside and Green Coast Award.
“There is one exception, Silver Bay Holiday Park, a private enterprise on Anglesey made a successful Green Coast Award application for the nearby Silver Bay.”
As mentioned earlier, prior to 2022 the region had always been well represented in the Blue Flag awards. So what changed?
Here is a statement from Keep Wales Tidy about the changes made that year and why Anglesey, Gwynedd and Conwy beaches missed out in 2022.
They said: “We have received final notification from the international Blue Flag jury that despite our ongoing conversations with them, a number of beaches across Gwynedd, Anglesey and Conwy will not be awarded a Blue Flag for the 2022 bathing season.
“The beaches in question have achieved the highest environmental standards that are required by Blue Flag.
“However, the international jury have reinforced the decision that on beaches where there are an average of more than 50 beach users a day over a period of 4 weeks during the high season and where there are no lifeguards provided, then a safety risk assessment must be carried out by a recognised professional independent assessor or by a Full Member organisation of the International Life Saving Federation (ILS).
“Therefore, a safety risk assessment made in-house by the Blue Flag applicant is deemed non-compliant with the Blue Flag criteria.
“In previous years, applications for Blue Flag were approved with reference to robust risk assessments that were undertaken by competent, trained internal risk assessors.
“However, despite the submission of additional supporting information, the 2022 applications were not approved by the International Jury as they did not adequately address the requirement for an independent assessment.
“All parties involved recognise that achieving these criteria is an important element in ensuring that the standards of excellence which underpin the Blue Flag award for over 5,000 Blue Flag beaches around the world are maintained.
“Conversations will continue to outline, in a full and timely manner, all future Blue Flag requirements to ensure that beaches in North West Wales meet these criteria.”