The current quality of bathing water at Goodwick Beach is up to Blue Flag standard, Pembrokeshire County Councillors were told last week.
Speaking at the Authority’s Overview and Scrutiny Committee, Councillor Ken Rowlands, the Cabinet Member for Environmental and Regulatory Services, revealed that water samples taken by Council pollution control officers met the Guideline Water Quality Standard.
“This is the same standard that Blue Flag bathing waters must meet” said Councillor Rowlands.
“This is the story I would like to see our local press reporting. We shouldn’t be harking back nine months to an unfortunate occurrence caused by the dreadful weather last year.”
Councillor Rowlands was referring to recent newspaper stories criticising the failure of Goodwick Beach to be included in the Good Beach Guide 2010.
When tested last year, it narrowly failed on just two occasions to reach EC water quality standards because of the extremely wet summer. The heavy rain caused instances of flash flooding which swept nutrients and bacteria onto the beach via streams.
Councillor Rowlands reminded members that Goodwick was not an indentified bathing water beach and therefore was not one of the 20 beaches in Pembrokeshire sampled by the Environment Agency.
Pembrokeshire has an excellent record for water quality, proved by the 13 Blue Flags the county holds- the most in the UK.
The Council hopes to reapply for Seaside Award status for Goodwick Beach next year.
