Water quality prevents resort from retaining Blue Flag status
CLEETHORPES HAS HELD THE AWARD FOR A NUMBER OF YEARS
CLEETHORPES beach has not been awarded the prestigious Blue Flag status this year after North East Lincolnshire Council decided not to apply due to issues with the water quality.
The Blue Flag status highlights the world’s best beaches and seaside resorts, taking into account a number of categories. g The area must meet a large set of criteria including sustainability needs, environmental factors and safety measures.
Currently, there are 50 countries which contain an area with a Blue Flag award, including Algeria, Columbia and Iceland. Cleethorpes has held the coveted award for a number of years including 2019 and 2021.
However this year it does not make the list of Blue Flag g beaches. The seaside resort was not even put forward to be a Blue Flag holder due to issues with the bathing water quality.
North East Lincolnshire Council have confirmed they did not make an application for Cleethorpes because the water quality is only ‘good’ when it needs to be ‘excellent’ to meet the criteria. Although the rating is in relation to 2021, recent events have seen the downgrade in water quality continue, including a sewage g leak in the North Sea.
A sewage pollution warning was issued by the Environmental Agency in April this year, stating that it was not safe to bathe in it.
Many factors that affect water quality are out of our control, such as flooding and extreme weather
Council spokesperson
In regard to Cleethorpes’ omission from the list, l a spokesperson for the Council said: ““Bathing water for the main beach in Cleethorpes was rated ‘good’ by the Environment Agency for 2021. It needs to be rated ‘excellent’ when making an application for Blue Flag F status.
“Cleethorpes is a hugely popular destination t and we take pride in making it one of the best seaside resorts on the East coast. We actively monitor water quality and we work with w our partners to make improvements, but many factors that affect it are out of our control, such as flooding and extreme weather. As a resort at the mouth of the Humber, the second largest estuary in the UK, Cleethorpes can also be affected by events happening upstream and sometimes in other major rivers such as the Don, Ouse and Trent, which all flow into the Humber and the North Sea.”