‘Poor’ water quality of Scarborough’s South Bay raised at full council meeting

At the inaugural full meeting of North Yorkshire Council on Wednesday, May 17, councillors highlighted the bathing water quality warnings that have been issued for parts of the coast, including Scarborough’s South Bay.

It comes as Yorkshire Water issued a public apology on Thursday for sewage discharges into North Yorkshire’s rivers.

Meanwhile, the campaign group Surfers Against Sewage is planning a demonstration on Saturday, May 20, to highlight the issue of poor water quality in Scarborough’s South Bay.

Speaking at the council’s annual general meeting on Wednesday, Cllr Rich Maw said: “Could the executive member tell me how many of the county’s beaches and rivers are currently declared unfit for swimmers by the Environment Agency?

“I’m aware of the poor quality of water in South Bay, Scarborough, which has been declared unfit for swimmers and I would like to know what it is we are doing to remedy this.”

Cllr Greg White, the authority’s executive member for managing the environment, said: “The bathing water quality list is actually maintained by the Environment Agency as I think you suggested.

“Only the Scarborough South Bay is classified as a poor bathing water quality and we have beach signs advising people against bathing in that particular place.”

Cllr White added: “North Yorkshire Council is a partner in the Yorkshire Bathing Water Partnership along with Yorkshire Water, East Riding of Yorkshire Council, and the Environment Agency.

“Specifically with Scarborough South Bay, there have been specific investigations as to the causes of that recurring poor bathing water quality, and unfortunately no specific cause has as yet been uncovered.

“The Bathing Water Partnership is working towards improving bathing water quality across all of Yorkshire’s beaches with some success, and with Whitby’s and Scarborough’s North Bay up the coast, getting blue flag status.”

In March, campaigners put up a “satirical” blue plaque outside the office of Scarborough and Whitby MP Sir Robert Goodwill as part of a nationwide campaign against sewage pollution.

The plaque criticised the member of parliament for opposing an amendment to the Environment Bill which proposed imposing a legal duty on water companies to reduce the discharges of untreated sewage.

However, Sir Robert said the amendment was not practical as it would have led to “sewage backing up into people’s houses or running down streets”.

The MP added that “when you don’t have heavy rainfall, there’s no excuse for sewage pass discharging”.

Water companies in England have pledged to invest £10bn to reduce sewage discharges following considerable public anger over the issue.

However, environmental groups including Greenpeace have said that the improvements should not just be the responsibility of bill-payers “whilst the shareholders remain untouched”.