Proposal to remove Rock from the list of bathing waters

Overview

The Bathing Water Directive (2006/7/EC) protects bathers' health at popular beaches and inland waters by requiring water quality to be monitored for intestinal enterococci and E.coli during the bathing season, which in England runs from 15 May to 30 September. The Directive applies to waters that are used by a large number of bathers and where bathing is supported and promoted by the local authority or private owner.

If a bathing water is de-designated, monitoring for bathing water standards would cease and there would be no further investment specifically directed at meeting these standards. There would no longer be a legal requirement for public information about water quality to be provided.

Other measures are in place to protect the water environment generally, including the Water Framework Directive (2000/60/EC), the Urban Waste Water Treatment Directive (91/271/EEC) and the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (2008/56/EC).

Why your views matter

Rock is situated on the estuary of the River Camel, an area predominantly used for boating and other water sports, and we are proposing to remove the beach from the list of designated bathing waters for public safety reasons.

We would like to know your views this proposal, and whether you have any additional evidence about how the beach is used. The consultation will be open until 3 March 2016 and your response

can be submitted through the online survey, or by email or by post to the contact details below:

Email: bathingwater@defra.gsi.gov.uk

Post: Bathing Water team

          Defra

          Nobel House, Area 3D

          17 Smith Square

           London SW1P 3JR