The Marine Conservation Society has made clear its position on the forthcoming EU Referendum with an announcement that without the past 40 years of European legislation “we could still be swimming in sewage”.
The UK has been forced to improve its water quality thanks to the EU Bathing Water Directive, says the society, celebrating the fact that for the first time this year signs are being posted advising against swimming at consistently failing beaches. These have to be in place by Sunday, 15 May (or 1 June in Scotland and Northern Ireland).
“Leaving the EU would mean the loss of the Bathing Water Directive,” said MCS Head of Pollution Dr Laura Foster. “Hopefully we would retain the requirements and associated regulations, but we’re concerned about what alternative arrangements with the EU might mean, and this should be of real concern to all beach-goers.”
The MCS says it took the death in 1957 of six-year-old Caroline Wakefield from polio, contracted after swimming in sewage-contaminated sea off Gosport, to raise the issue and step up monitoring. This process culminated in the European directive being introduced in 1976.
At that time the UK declared only 27 waters suitable for bathing – fewer than land-locked Luxembourg. Forty years on, it has more than 600, with 95% meeting revised minimum standards last year, says the MCS.
“European directives for bathing waters and sewage treatment have been instrumental in cleaning up water quality at UK beaches,” said Rachel Wyatt, MCS Water Quality Programme Manager. “Before the European Bathing Water Directive was introduced, many UK beaches were impacted by continuous untreated sewage discharges – we were literally swimming in poo.
“In 1988 just over a third of those beaches monitored failed to meet even the minimum standard considered fit for bathing – often unbeknown to beach visitors.”
After Caroline Wakefield’s death, her parents and brother created the Golden List of Beaches to flag up nearby sewage outflows. In 1988 they handed the guide to the MCS, and it evolved into the charity’s online Good Beach Guide.
14-May-16
