New group Friends of Burnham Beach launched to tidy up town’s beach
A new community group called the Friends of Burnham-On-Sea Beach is set to launch this week as part of a project to clean up the town’s beach.
The new group is being formed by Litter Free Coast and Sea Somerset, the campaign that’s overseeing Burnham’s attempt to improve the town’s sea water quality.
Burnham’s Coastal Officer Harriet Yates-Smith told Burnham-On-Sea.com: “The new group, called the Friends of Burnham Beach, will be comprised of a dedicated group of volunteers who clean the beach every month, making sure it’s safe and clean for everyone to enjoy.”
The first beach clean will take place on Saturday 20th August at 11am, starting at the town’s jetty.
“We’re hoping that there will be a good turnout of local people who are keen to help keep our beach clean on a regular basis.”
A separate group, the Pooper Troopers, was also recently formed to clean up the seafront area. It will be carrying out a patrol this Friday, August 19th, from 10am to encourage responsible dog ownership and help prevent dog fouling on the beach and seafront.
It comes after Burnham’s popular beach suffered a ‘poor’ rating last November after stricter new EU bathing water quality standards came into force.
Whilst the quality of the seawater is no worse than it has been in the past, it was clear that more needed to be done to involve the local community in finding a solution, in addition to work already underway by Wessex Water, Sedgemoor District Council and the Environment Agency.
Also see:
New Burnham Coastal Officer appointed to improve sea water quality
New Coastal Officer in Burnham will offset impact of EU sea water rules
Tourism fightback starts after EU gives Burnham ‘poor’ sea water grade
Wessex Water’s £39m project to improve Burnham’s sea water ‘on track’
