A new award for Berrow beach will help to promote the village and attract more families to visit, the Parish Council has said this week.
As first reported here earlier this week, nationwide campaign group Keep Britain Tidy has awarded Berrow Beach a coveted ‘Seaside Award’.
Keep Britain Tidy awards its prestigious Seaside Awards to the best beaches around the UK.
Berrow Parish Council Chairman Barry Kew told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “The Parish Council, Sedgemoor District Council and everyone associated with local tourism are very pleased that our Berrow Beach has received this important national award. It obviously helps attract families to our beach and the wider area, which relies heavily on tourism.”
News of Berrow’s award was this week welcomed by Sedgemoor District Council, which manages the beach, and its Chairman, Cllr Mike Cresswell, and Resort Manager Graham Newing formally received the award this week, as pictured.
While Berrow’s beach has been praised, unfortunately Burnham’s ‘poor’ bathing water quality rating from the EU means the town has been disqualified and won’t received the same seaside award in 2017.
Sedgemoor spokeswoman Claire Faun welcomed Berrow’s award, saying: “At a time when more and more people are choosing to holiday in the UK, the growth of visitors, alongside residents, enjoying our delightful and dramatic coastline has highlighted not only the demand but the continued importance of presenting and retaining clean, attractive and well-managed beaches.”
“Although Seaside Award beaches can often be very different, they are a symbol of quality which guarantees to residents and visitors that the beach is one of the best in the country.”
While Burnham’s beach is not on the awards list for a second year running, work is underway to clean up the beach and improve its sea water. The Friends of Burnham Beach undertake regular beach cleans to reduce marine litter and improve the bathing water quality. A major programme of work is also underway by Wessex Water to improve the sea water quality.
Burnham’s beach received a ‘poor’ rating in the latest EU inspection due to the stricter new EU bathing water quality standards – even though local councillors and tourism bosses stress that the town’s sea water quality has not worsened. It is only the method of surveying it that has changed.
