Weymouth beach could lose Blue Flag status after drop in water quality
A popular Dorset beach could lose its Blue Flag status for the 2025 holiday season after a drop in water quality.
The water at Weymouth's main beach has gone from being rated 'excellent' to 'good', with councillors warning it will make the loss of the Blue Flag statues 'almost inevitable'.
Blue Flag statuses are only awarded to the beaches with the best water quality globally.
Town councillor Matt Bell says the situation at Weymouth's main beach is ‘disappointing’ and says he will work with the Environment Agency and Wessex Water to improve the rating.
Dorset Council leader Nick Ireland is critical of what he describes as “decades of under-investment by Wessex Water”.
He said one of the reasons for a drop in quality may have been an increase in sewage overflows from Chaffey’s Lake, Radipole – up by 33% on 2023 figures.
Cllr Ireland said: “Decades of under-investment by the privately owned Wessex Water to an ageing and increasingly not fit for purpose sewage system has made the loss of the Blue Flag status of Weymouth’s jewel in the crown beach almost inevitable."
Wessex Water said there is no direct link between the overflows at Chafey’s Lake, which discharges when rainwater enters the sewer system, and the Central Beach.
It said discharges increased from 12 in 2023 to 16 in 2024, adding: “Environment Agency data does not link overflow discharges to the River Wey’s ecological status at that location.
“We are investing £3 million every month on schemes to reduce storm overflow discharges and have plans to do much more from 2025, including at sites like Chafey’s Lake where rainwater and groundwater enters sewers – often from private pipes.
“More widely, we believe rainwater should be better managed and returned to the environment close to where it falls rather than draining into sewers. Alongside our ongoing investment, this requires the political understanding and will to bring forward policies in government that that promote best practice in rainwater management at source.”
Wessex Water said work on Chafey’s Lake is currently listed for 2045 as it is classed as a ‘low-impact overflow,’ but this could change with the details the company’s next business plan (2025-30) which has still to be finalised.
To achieve Blue Flag status, a beach needs to be rated by the Environment Agency as excellent (***) but the final rating for Weymouth Central beach for 2024 is good (**) which means Weymouth Town Council is unlikely to qualify to apply for the Keep Britain Tidy Blue Flag for 2025. The deadline for applications is now only days away.
Cllr Matt Bell, Chair of Weymouth Town Council’s Environment and Services Committee, said: “Based on Environment Agency samples taken between May and September last year, we are extremely disappointed to learn that bathing water quality at Weymouth Central Beach has gone from excellent to good.
"We are keen to work with agencies including the Environment Agency and Wessex Water to find ways to tackle the cause of the lower rating, and work alongside partners to improve the situation.”
Weymouth Town Council’s Environment and Services Committee agreed in December to a trial of water quality testing during the winter months at Greenhill, which is not currently a requirement of the Environment Agency.
The council said equipment has already been ordered so that testing can begin as soon as possible. The beach is popular with sea swimmers throughout the year.
Two beaches – Sandbanks in Poole and Oddicombe in Torbay, Devon – have scooped the Blue Flag award every year since it was launched 37 years ago.
Weymouth and Swanage were the only beaches in the Dorset Council area to be awarded Blue Flag status in 2024, although a dozen beaches in the Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole area held the award in 2024, with a similar number in Devon also holding the Blue Flag last year.