Coastal waters (beaches) and a small number of inland waters may be designated as bathing waters. There are 48 designated bathing waters in our region, all of which are coastal.
Bathing waters are currently designated under a 1976 European Directive and the UK Bathing Water regulations 2003.
A new European Directive and UK regulations due to come into force from 2015 but until then the existing standards still apply:
- Mandatory - all designated bathing waters must achieve this or fail the directive.
- Guideline - which is a higher voluntary standard.
Every designated bathing water in the our region has attained either the mandatory or guideline standard during 11 of the past 13 years. Beaches with guideline compliance may also qualify for Blue Flag or Quality Coast Awards, or a recommendation from the Marine Conservation Society.