Bathing Season & Dogs on Beaches
 In today’s Clear Messages bulletin, we will be telling you all about the bathing season – what is it and how it’s monitored, and shining some light on which beaches you can and can’t walk your furry friends on during the warmer months. For more information, please keep on reading!Bathing season – what is it and how it’s monitored  This year, bathing season is running from the 15 May to the 30 September.For those of you who aren’t aware of what bathing season is, it’s a period of time when the Environment Agency monitor the water quality of over 400 designated bathing waters – this includes beaches, lakes and rivers.Weekly assessments measure the water quality, and at a number of sites, a daily pollution risk forecasts is issued.While the standard of bathing water quality in England is usually very high, the weather can have a temporary impact on the level of water quality. Knowing more about it can help you plan your trip to one of many beautiful blue spaces and get the most out of it!Annual ratings classify each site as excellent, good, sufficient or poor based on measurements taken over a period of up to four years. An interactive map and more information on specific locations can be found on the Environment Agency’s website.If we are alerted to a pollution risk, we would like to reassure you that we would pop something on our North Devon Council social media channels and have signage put up at the area affected.Dogs and beaches  Many of the beaches across North Devon are dog-friendly – some have open access all year round, whilst others offer different zones in peak seasons, but all are clearly marked.Most beaches in North Devon are privately owned and most also allow dogs between 1 October and 30 April, however, we would encourage you to please visit our webpage for a full list of which beaches allow dogs, whether they should be kept on a lead and which months they are and aren’t allowed.It’s useful to note that the following privately owned beaches have site-specific enforceable dog controls and do not allow dogs on their beaches between 1 May and 31 September:  Let’s make a difference together!  Don’t forget the power of our local communities! We currently work with partners and community groups to combat issues in targeted areas. If you would like to get involved and keep North Devon beautiful, we welcome any approach for collaboration. Follow us on Twitter @NDCWardens and Facebook @northdevoncouncil and share our posts to help spread the word. Don’t forget, if you see us out and about, feel free to come and say hello. Thanks for taking the time to read this bulletin, we hope you found it useful. |
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