Weymouth beach proudly fly Blue Flag and Seaside Award again this Summer
Awards recognise and celebrate country’s best beaches as international Blue Flag reaches its 37th year.
Environmental charity Keep Britain Tidy has today announced the winners of the prestigious Blue Flag and Seaside Awards for summer 2024, and among them is Weymouth Beach.
This year Weymouth Beach has met the high standard required to be awarded the Blue Flag and Seaside Award for another year, which is fantastic news for the town.
Jane Biscombe, Town Clerk at Weymouth Town Council, said: “Weymouth has a beautiful stretch of award-winning coastline which, as a town council, we are so proud to maintain. Thank you to Keep Britain Tidy for recognising our efforts and awarding us the blue flag and seaside award for summer 2024.
“With its wide, sandy beach, the crystal-clear shallow waters which kids just love to splash about in; the beach matting, toilets, showers, free drinking water; deckchairs and sunloungers; it’s such an amazing place. Well done to our staff for maintaining the beach all year round.”
Keep Britain Tidy’s Chief Executive, Allison Ogden-Newton OBE said: “These awards are a credit to the collective efforts of beach managers, volunteers, residents and businesses who have worked tirelessly to maintain, protect and improve some of our best-loved and most popular beaches and we’d like to take this moment to recognise and applaud them.
“Visitors to a beach flying a Blue Flag can be assured the beach will be clean, safe and meet the highest environmental standards, as well as international bathing water quality standards.
“The Blue Flag is the world’s most recognised award for beaches and marinas and, to qualify, each applicant must meet and maintain a series of stringent environmental, educational, safety and accessibility criteria.
“Seaside Awards are presented to the best beaches in England and celebrate the quality and diversity of our coastline.”
The Blue Flag and Seaside Awards are aimed at improving the quality of England’s coastline and promoting the country’s best beaches.
Blue Flag is an international award managed by Keep Britain Tidy on behalf of the Foundation for Environmental Education. It is only presented to beaches with water which has achieved the highest classification as set by the EU Bathing Water Directive and has an environmental education programme, while Seaside Awards are presented to the best beaches in England and celebrate the quality and diversity of our coastline.
Among the criteria beaches are assessed against are:
- Safety and services, such as first aid, lifeguards where necessary
- Environmental information including displaying details about local eco systems
- Water quality – Blue Flag beaches must meet the ‘excellent’ water quality standard as set out in the EU bathing water directive and Seaside Award winners must meet the ‘sufficient’ standard.
- Environmental management, including litter and waste.
ENDS
Notes to Editors
- Keep Britain Tidy (KBT) s a leading environmental charity, for more details visit www.keepbritaintidy.org.
- This year 61 sites, including an inland water, were awarded both the Blue Flag and Seaside Award, while 13 sites, including a marina, received the Blue Flag only and 76 beaches received the Seaside Award only. The full list can be accessed from KBT website.the
- These awards are the only way for the public to be assured that beaches are delivering a safe, clean and well-managed space for them to enjoy.
- Testing of bathing waters is carried out by the Environment Agency during the bathing season from 15th May – 30Th September. The current classification and in season test results are available at the Environment Agency’s Swimfo website.
- Our coast is a natural environment and water quality may vary, particularly after heavy rainfall when the advice from the World Health Organisation is to refrain from entering the water for at least 24 hours.
Press enquiries
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Keep Britain Tidy Mobile: 07768 880016