Good Beach Guide

• 77% of beaches in the South West are recommended in the Marine Conservation Society's Good Beach Guide 2011, and has been on the increase for the past 2 years.
• There was a 11 percentage point increase in the number of Good Beach Guide recommendations in the UK in 2011 in comparison to 2010.  
• The number of recommendations in the South West increased from 62% in 2009, to 66% in 2010.

The Good Beach Guide is published by the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) - the UK charity dedicated to the protection of our seas, shores and wildlife. It is the biggest and best beach guide available with a description, photo and map for each of 1,200 beaches in the UK and Ireland.

‘MCS Recommended’ is one of five UK beach awards, but is the only scheme that focuses entirely on water quality standards and the risk of sewage pollution. MCS will only recommend beaches in the Good Beach Guide if they are better than the Guideline European water quality standard and are not affected by inadequately treated continuous sewage discharge.

Results for the 2011 Good Beach Guide showed a 8% increase in the number of UK bathing beaches recommended for excellent water quality, when in comparison to the results of the high in 2007 (of 135 beaches).

In total, 461 UK beaches are ‘MCS Recommended’ this, compared to 421 last year. This is the 3^rd highest number achieved in the UK, since the recommendations began 24 years ago.

Bathing water tests are conducted from May to September 2011

‘MCS Recommended’ is one of five UK beach awards, but is the only scheme that focuses entirely on water quality standards and the risk of sewage pollution. MCS will only recommend beaches in the Good Beach Guide if they are better than the Guideline European water quality standard and are not affected by inadequately treated continuous sewage discharge.

South West results 2011

77% of beaches in the South West are Marine Conservation Society Recommended – 147 out of 191 tested - whilst 6 beaches failed the legal minimum water quality standard.

The South West is still the guide’s top performing region for the sixth year in succession.

From 2007-2009, the summer months were the wettest period since 1914 in terms of rainfall quantities. The higher rainfall has increased pollution from combined sewer overflows and washed pollutants like fertilisers, livestock waste, and urban debris from land, into rivers and the sea.

Initiatives helping with these issues include catchment sensitive farming (CSF). The revised Bathing Water Directive has driven improvements in water quality as the standards are more stringent than those in the current directive.

Within the region, Cornwall had the largest number of recommended beaches, closely followed by Devon and  Dorset:

Full details of all recommended beaches in the South West can be found here.

Warmer, wetter winters and summers which contain violent storms and flash floods are forecast to be a consequence of climate change and will substantially increase coastal pollution pressures.

Bathing waters need to be clean enough for people to swim in. It's the Environment Agency's job to monitor and assess the water quality of bathing waters in England and Wales to ensure they are fit for purpose.  See our page on Bathing Water Quality.

• Good Beach Guide

• Good Beach Guide recommendations in the South West

• South West bathing water quality