This week it was revealed that three of the top five ‘dirtiest’ beaches in the South West were in Cornwall, according to a new analysis – but what are they actually like to visit in person?
Porthluney Beach on the Roseland Peninsula, Par Sands near St Austell and Long Rock Beach between Marazion and Penzance all made the list looking at water cleanliness.
The research, carried out by rubbish removal company Clear It Waste, examined more than 400 beaches across the UK, looking at various factors including suspension due to sewage, the average count of the bacteria Intestinal Enterococci (E. faecalis), and the Escherichia coli count (E. coli) to determine a score out of ten.
Porthluney Beach ranked second on the list, beaten only by Combe Martin in Devon, with the Cornish beach scoring an overall water cleanliness score of 7.55/10. Recording an average count of 75 cfu/100 ml E. coli in the water, Porthluney’s water was assessed and classified by the Environment Agency back in 2022, and was rated sufficient - which doesn’t seem terrible, but is the lowest classification in the South West.
Par Sands was fourth in the rankings and has an overall water cleanliness score of 7.81/10. This is despite having the lowest E. faecalis count in the Southwest (80 cfu/100 ml) and also boasts the lowest E. Coli count in the South West (38 cfu/100 ml).
Long Rock Beach ranked fifth with a modest overall water cleanliness score of 7.97/10. This is despite its high average count of E. faecalis 262 cfu/100 ml. However, Long Rock has a pollution risk level of 0, the lowest in the South West.
READ MORE: Three Cornwall beaches rank in list of 'dirtiest' in the southwest
But what are they really like to visit? We headed down west on August Bank Holiday Saturday, to experience in person one of the beaches listed, Long Rock.
Given it was August Bank Holiday weekend, and a relatively sunny day at that, it was surprisingly quiet there. Perhaps, given the size of the beach, people were just more spread out, giving the illusion of emptiness. Or maybe people had seen the water quality findings.
As one of the few beaches in Cornwall that remains ‘dog friendly’ all day, throughout the whole year, there were quite a few dogs being walked along the sand.
No one was in the water, although three kayaks sat in the shallows looked ready to launch.
In the name of research I took off my shoes and paddled in. Aside from some seaweed – not uncommon on Cornish shores – the water was beautifully clear.
Of course looks can be deceiving, and the bacteria tested for in the study is not visible to the naked eye, but there was no evidence of dirt or pollution, just sparkling blue sea.
And this, perhaps, is the most worrying thing. Visitors on holiday in the area would have no indication that the water might not be as inviting as it appears.
Further along the beach and you come across what could provide an answer to the issue at hand.
A large storm overflow pipe juts out from the wall and along the sand, directly into the sea.
In November last year charity Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), set up to rid the sea of pollution and provide warnings to water users, reported that during the 2022 bathing season Long Rock had received 76 sewage spills, covering more than 195 hours.
It says there are at least seven sewage overflows that discharge raw sewage into this bathing water.
SAS describes Long Rock on its website as: “The second of four beaches enclosed in Mounts Bay, Long Rock beach is a one kilometre stretch of sand backed by sea defences. Within the catchment area of Heliport beach there is a sewer overflow that discharges into the Ponsdale Brook, 130m upstream of the beach, three that discharge into Trevaylor Stream and four more sewer overflows that discharge into the sea east and west of the beach.”
MP for the West Cornwall area, Derek Thomas, has described Long Rock as “a priority area” for improvement, to eliminate overflows discharging into the sea, and previously vowed to keep pressure on water company South West Water.
On its ‘Water Fit’ map, South West Water says about Long Rock: “It does have a slightly scruffy feel in sections where it backs onto the railway lines but is generally clean and swimming is very safe.”
It has also pledged in the region of £600,000 to invest in water quality at Long Rock, up to March 2025.
The water company said: “To help reduce the risk of environmental impact from our sewerage network, and to contribute towards improving bathing water quality at Long Rock, we have earmarked circa £600,000 of investment up to March 2025*. [*Amounts earmarked for investment may change dependent on the final design of the optimal solution and costings provided by our supply chain.]
“We are currently evaluating the feasibility of a joint plan to reduce Gulval Trevarrack Lane storm overflow and Finns storm overflow. Part of this involves reducing the amount of groundwater that enters into our sewerage network. This helps reduce the volume of water in the network and therefore reduces the need for storm overflows to operate.
“Data from at Bolitho Road storm overflow suggests there is a large amount of road and roof runoff connected to the sewerage network and hence rainfall runoff from these areas discharges out of the storm overflow. We are looking into whether we can separate this rainwater and discharge this into the watercourse directly by 2025, rather than it being collected in our sewerage network.”
A table on its website shows the reported total spill number for each overflow identified by the Environment Agency for Long Rock, between 2020 and 2022.
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