NO BLUE FLAG FOR SANDOWN DUE TO E. COLI LEVEL INCREASE

Sandown is not going to apply for Blue Flag status for the town’s sandy beach this year as the water quality standards simply won’t be met.  Town Mayor Alex Lightfoot announced at Monday evening’s Sandown Town Council (STC) meeting that Sandown will not be applying for Blue Flag status this year. At the meeting, he cited advice that STC had been given about the water quality standards needed to obtain ‘Blue Flag status’ as the reason for the decision. It comes as the water in the sea on Sandown Beach drops down in quality rating from the Environment Agency — from ‘excellent’ to ‘good’ — under the Bathing Water Classifications. The government body took 20 water samples from Sandown beach in the 2023 bathing season and its readings have shown an increase in E. Coli compared to 2022. The Environment Agency says on Swimfo the bathing water at Sandown Beach could be affected by discharges from nearby storm overflows when heavy rainfall overwhelms the sewerage system but the outfalls are designed to ensure bathing water compliance is not affected. Beaches at Whitecliff Bay and Yaverland have, however, retained their ‘excellent’ bathing water status. Sandown would still qualify for other criteria needed to meet the Blue Flag status, like public toilet provision and lifeguard supervision but would fail overall,it was told. Blue Flag is an international award managed by Keep Britain Tidy on behalf of the Foundation for Environmental Education. It is only presented to well-managed beaches with water quality defined as ‘excellent’ under the EU Bathing Water Directive and environmental education programmes. Sandown last held the award back in 2023 when they were the only Island beach and 1 of just 78 across the country to be recognised. In that year, Sandown also received the Seaside Award – 1 of 128 beaches nationwide to achieve the status along with Seagrove and Springvale (non-bathing) on the Island. According to the sewage map on the Surfer’s Against Sewage (SAS) website, Sandown currently has no water quality alerts in place. Back in October, there was a 50-hour long sewage release into the sea in the area – as previously reported by Island Echo. Sandown Town Council will once again apply instead for the annual Seaside Awards, an accolade it has received in previous years.