Campaigners, Swim at the Point, who have been seeking official Bathing Water Status for a Bembridge beach, fear their bid could fail because the Isle of Wight Council has yet to give its support.
The ‘Swim at the Point’ group has spent the summer gathering the evidence needed to apply for designated bathing water status at Silver Sands Beach, at The Point in Bembridge.
However, campaigners say that despite repeated attempts to secure the Isle of Wight Council’s backing, they have yet to receive the approval needed to progress the application – with a mid-October deadline now looming.
As previously reported by Island Echo, the campaign was launched in August following the success of the earlier ‘No Poo at The Point’ campaign. That saw Southern Water withdraw plans for a combined sewer overflow at Silver Sands following opposition from the local community.
Campaigners subsequently set their sights on securing official Bathing Water Status from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA), which would see the Environment Agency regularly monitor water quality at the beach.
Throughout the summer, volunteers have been counting swimmers and gathering evidence to demonstrate the beach’s popularity. The group says it has now met the required criteria for swimmer numbers and has the other facilities needed to support an application.
Support has also been secured from local businesses, Bembridge Harbour, Bembridge Parish Council and hundreds of residents and visitors, according to the campaign.
However, the group says support from the Isle of Wight Council is also required before the application can proceed.
Campaigners claim the authority would need to provide a letter of support and, should the application prove successful, display information at the beach. They say grant funding is available towards the cost of signage.
Despite what the group describes as persistent attempts to obtain a response – alongside efforts by local councillors representing Bembridge and St Helens – campaigners say the necessary backing has not yet been forthcoming.
Time is now becoming critical, with the application needing to be submitted by mid-October.
The group says missing that deadline would mean waiting until next year and repeating the work undertaken this summer to demonstrate the level of bathing at the beach.
Campaigners have questioned why the Council has not yet backed the bid, arguing that gaining another designated bathing water on the Island would benefit residents, tourism and the environment.
There are also concerns that without the designation, proposals to discharge sewage at the location could return in the future. When the campaign was launched, organisers said Southern Water was considering temporary storage tanks as a short-term solution to the area’s underlying sewage overflow problem.
