23rd May 2012

LYME REGIS: Council commits to improving the water quality at Back Beach

By Francesca Evans

TOWN councilors have reinstated their commitment to improving water quality at Church Cliff Beach in Lyme Regis, refusing to consider de-designating it as a bathing beach.

Church Cliff Beach, known locally as Back Beach, was rated as having poor water quality by the Marine Conservation Society last year. The council has since been working with the Environment Agency and West Dorset District Council to improve the quality, most recently by taking measures to deter pigeons nesting along the River Lim.

West Dorset District Council’s head of public health, Jeanette Guy, wrote to last week’s Strategy and Policy meeting, warning councillors that a bathing water information sign would have to be installed at the beginning of summer and that water quality standards would become much more stringent in 2015.

She said: “I am concerned that despite the work that has and will be undertaken to try and improve bathing water quality and Church Cliff Beach this might not be sufficient to improve the future classification of the beach.

“This will mean the required sign having to advise people against bathing here in the future, potentially causing reputational risks to the tourist economy in Lyme Regis.

“As this bathing water has a relatively low usage compared to Front Beach, and there are no facilities or lifeguard here, I would encourage that the town council collect and review evidence to decide whether it would be appropriate to apply to Defra to de-designate this bathing water beach.”

Councillor Lucy Campbell said: “I would be really concerned about de-designating Back Beach. It would have a real detrimental effect on our tourism industry.”

She pointed out that they still had two and half years until 2015 and said de-designation should be an “absolute last resort”.

“We should do everything in the meantime to try and avoid that,” she added.

Councillor Anita Williams said: “It would be disingenuous to just strike it off rather than dealing with the problem.”

Councillor Rikey Austin said the water quality problem could get worse if it were de-designated, as it would no longer be tested regularly.

“If there is a problem along the river it could get worse and affect the whole bay,” she added.

Speaking in the public forum, former councillor Peter Williams said that de-designating Church Cliff Beach was “at best premature”.

He also pointed out that the point for testing water was very close to the river mouth and “rat-infested rock armouring”.

Commenting on the water testing point, Councillor Williams said: “We are supposedly testing water quality of a bathing beach but the testing point is very close to the river mouth. I’m not convinced that Charmouth can be excellent when ours is so poor. We all know that what’s in our water ends up in Charmouth.”

She suggested speaking to the Environment Agency to see if the point of testing could be changed.

Councillor Austin added: “It seems like they’re testing the quality of our river water not the beach water.”

Councillor Terry O’Grady suggested having the water independently tested in a different area.

Councillor Mark Gage said that the input from the Environment Agency and the district council in dealing with the water quality problems had been great, but “nothing but lackluster” from South West Water.

“They really need to step up with this,” he added.

“We need to put in place an action plan that means we can get the quality up to standard by 2015.”

It was agreed not consider de-designation of the beach and continue working to improve the water quality, including looking into having it independently tested at a different point.

LYME REGIS: Council commits to improving the water quality at Back Beach

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