New wild swimming spots given go ahead

Three new wild swimming spots in East and West Sussex have been given the go ahead.

New bathing water sites benefit from water quality monitoring by the Environment Agency, which assesses whether action is needed to cut pollution levels.

Water Minister Robbie Moore said the sites provide social, physical and positive health benefits to local communities.

Following a public consultation, Goring Beach and Worthing Beach House in West Sussex and Rottingdean Beach in East Sussex have been designated new bathing water sites.

A total of 27 new sites in England will be designated ahead of this year’s bathing water season, which runs between 15 May and 30 September.

The new sites will take the total number of bathing waters to 451 in England.

Mr Moore said the new swimming spots will undergo regular monitoring to ensure bathers have up-to-date information on the quality of the water and enable action to be taken if minimum standards aren’t being met.

“I am fully committed to seeing the quality of our coastal waters, rivers and lakes rise further for the benefit of the environment and everyone who uses them,” he said.

The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) said the government will also launch a consultation later this year on proposals to reform bathing water regulations in England.

Defra said that last year, 96% of bathing waters in England met minimum annual standards and 90% were rated as “good” or “excellent”.

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