Sandgate Parish Council has put up signs along the beach front informing residents and visitors that the quality of the water at our beach is normally excellent or good, but that after heavy rainfall or stormy conditions, the quality of the water may be adversely affected for up to 48 hours. The signs include websites and QR codes where further information on water quality may be found.
This follows work done by the Parish Council a year ago to test the water at Granville Parade, because of concerns about the accuracy and reliability of the data published by the Environment Agency and Southern Water. We decided that we should issue advice to sea users on best practice so that they may enjoy the sea in a safe manner – the signs that have now gone up.
Based on the sea water testing, Sandgate Parish Council reluctantly decided last year not to apply for the Seaside Award, Keep Britain Tidy’s nationwide standard for the best beaches across the UK. Sandgate had been proud to receive the Seaside Award for the last ten years and the Parish Council wrote an open letter in April 2024 to various organisations to explain this decision (https://sandgatepc.org.uk/2024/04/04/sandgate-parish-council-and-the-seaside-award-2024/).
The Parish Council has again reluctantly decided not to apply for the Seaside Award this year, as conditions have not changed.
Our open letter contained specific recommendations for Southern Water and the Environment Agency and we can now provide an update on these as follows.
We recommended that Southern Water should update their wastewater handling so it no longer requires discharge of sewage to sea at Granville Parade (and elsewhere). We also recommended that, in the interim, the sewage outfall pipe at Granville Parade should be extended further out to sea by Southern Water to help keep sewage spillage away from the bathing area and beach.
Southern Water responded that they “do not have any plans to extend the sewage outfall pipe at Granville Parade as the Sandgate area is already achieving the Government’s target.”
We also recommended that the Environment Agency’s sampling point for Sandgate should be at Granville Parade as this is where most people swim. Currently, the sampling point for Sandgate is at Seabrook Point: a mile west from Granville Parade and to the west of a sewage outfall pipe. The prevailing current in this area runs west to east and testing therefore fails to pick up pollutants which are dissipated in an easterly direction towards Sandgate and Folkestone. The Environment Agency’s response explained that designations for bathing waters are decided by DEFRA. The Bathing Water Regulations and application guidance are currently being revised and during this time, DEFRA is not accepting applications for bathing water designation.
DEFRA expects to begin accepting applications again in Spring 2025 and the Parish Council, working with the District Council, will be applying to DEFRA for the beach at Granville Parade to be designated as bathing water, with water quality testing being undertaken at that location.