Bathing Waters – Season Length And other issues UK Beach Managers Forum – 14 th May 2014 Elaine Connolly

Season Length Public options survey summer 2013 –Results –Public preferred option was 3. Defras preferred is option 1. 2

Next Steps Letter to all bathing water LAs in April 14 –Seeking a test case for alternative season dates –Could be longer or shorter than current season –Based on user numbers –Proposing a similar decision making process as the designations work. Any decision made site by site and will require legislative change. Earliest change would be season

Season length What kind of evidence? –Existing tourist statistics –Life guard coverage –Bathers, not water sports Aim to minimise cost and effort of collecting large amounts of new data. What about new designations? –What evidence to build into application for a season variation? 4

2014 Usage surveys One off survey. Aiming to reduce monitoring burden where there is low usage Environment Agency carrying out user surveys at some reportedly low used beaches May lead to de-designations Higher level of evidence being gathered, and no local consultations Site list will be released when the respective LA have had an opportunity to comment. 5

Electronic Signs Demo model in Torbay Video of the unit is on YouTube – Offer letters to LAs going out this week for priority sites –Rural, un-manned, at risk of Poor, possibility of improving classification. –Offer of 1 unit per site, needs mains electricity and mobile phone signal coverage 6

Signage STP For sites without electronic signs –Recommending UKBMF signs –Signs must include Notification bathing waters is subject to short term pollution (will be on existing static signs already) Warning when pollution is predicted or present giving reasons (daily information from the Pollution Risk Forecast system) For 2015 onwards – indication of the number of days bathing was advices against due to STP. General 2014 Last year of the Defra poster system. 7