Sunderland beaches named among UK's cleanest as latest ratings released

The city bathing waters are among 33 across the North East labelled either ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good’ in the latest classifications announced by Defra.

Twenty-four of the region’s bathing waters have met the ‘Excellent’ standard, including Seaburn, Roker, and Seaham, while Seaham Hall is among nine ranked as ‘Good.’

Coun Amy Wilson, Sunderland City Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment and Transport, said: “This is very pleasing news and another great reason to be proud of our magnificent beaches and popular seafront.

“A lot of hard work has gone in, and is continuing, to help make sure we can all enjoy cleaner water to swim and bathe in.

“As a city, we can all help too by taking care with how we dispose of waste and litter, by only flushing the three Ps down the toilet, and keeping fat and grease out of the drains.”

North East bathing waters which have achieved the ‘excellent’ standard are Bamburgh Castle, Seahouses North, Beadnell, Newbiggin North, Low Newton, Warkworth, Amble Links, Druridge Bay North, Druridge Bay South, Newbiggin South, Blyth South, Seaton Sluice, Whitley Bay, Tynemouth Longsands North, Tynemouth Longsands South, Tynemouth King Edwards Bay, Marske Sands, Crimdon, Seaton Carew (Centre), and Seaton Carew (North Gare), and Saltburn, while Seaton Carew (North), Marsden, Spittal, South Shields, Redcar Coatham, Redcar Lifeboat Station, Redcar Granville and Redcar Stray were rated ‘Good.’

Cullercoats, on North Tyneside, is the only bathing water area in the North East not to pass the standards. An investigation is under way to establish why water quality in the area has deteriorated.

The rating is based on the current and previous three years of samples taken by the Environment Agency between May and September each year. Northumbrian Water’s Wastewater Director, Richard Warneford, said: “With more than two decades of investment having gone into improving bathing waters across the North East, it is very pleasing to see that 33 of our region’s 34 bathing waters have received ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good’ status for the 2019 season.

“We know that work to enhance areas of our network, such as storm water storage facilities, and to divert surface water away from sewers through our Rainwise initiative, will have had a positive impact on these results and we will continue to drive improvements.

“At the turn of the Century, the North East had only four bathing waters that achieved the standards in place at the time, so it’s plain to see how far we have come and these results are something we and our partners can be proud of - the North East is a fantastic place for a visit to the beach

“At Northumbrian Water, we place the environment at the heart of everything we do, so we are very proud of the partnership work and investment that has led to today’s results and to making our beaches great places to visit.”

Fiona Morris, Environment Manager at the Environment Agency in the North East, added: “The North East remains a real success story of drastic improvements over the past 30 years. In 1988, nearly half of our bathing waters failed to meet mandatory standards and now almost all of them are good or excellent.”