Water Quality and Safety at North Down Coastal Bathing Areas

Part of Adjournment – in the Northern Ireland Assembly at 6:15 pm on 2 November 2021.

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Photo of Gordon Lyons Gordon Lyons DUP 6:15, 2 November 2021

— with Ballyholme remaining sufficient. Although the result at Ballyholme is disappointing, we are seeing a year-on-year improvement in water quality there, which reflects the continued improvements that Northern Ireland Water has made around the North Down shoreline, where it has recently invested £30 million. The problems at Ballyholme are not solely due to waste water issues, and agricultural pollution incidents have also been recorded in the Ballyholme catchment. DAERA continues to investigate all pollution incidents that cause bathing water failures, and that has led to the year-on-year improvements that I just mentioned.

The second area of the Better Beaches action plan is concerned with improving beach cleanliness, facilities management and signage. DAERA continues to work with partner organisations such as Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful to promote clean and safe beaches and tackle the scourge of marine litter. In most cases, the councils and the National Trust lead on that area of the action plan as the statutory bathing water operators. However, in North Down, DAERA is the bathing water operator for Crawfordsburn and Helen's Bay, two of the busiest sites in Northern Ireland. Therefore, the Minister fully appreciates the challenges that the councils face.

We are all aware of the particular issues that arose over the COVID period, with unprecedented numbers of people at all our beauty spots. Although it is great to see everyone appreciating our beautiful outdoor spaces, we all know that not all our citizens leave no trace. I am pleased to say that the 'Marine Litter Report 2020' produced by Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful (KNIB) suggested that litter levels reduced during that year. Although levels are still unacceptably high and 2020 was a highly unusual year, it will be interesting to see whether a trend is emerging.

In a new effort to tackle marine litter, in September, DAERA pledged funding through a marine litter capital grants scheme to a number of initiatives in the North Down area. That included funding to the Cloughey and District Community Association to provide water fountains at the beachfront and to encourage the use of reusable bottles. Also funded was an initiative by the Donaghadee Community Development Association that will encourage an additional programme at four local schools. That involves the installation of a litter-picking station that allows children to undertake periodic litter picks and to analyse the litter that is collected. The children will also collect water samples for analysis using water testing kits and digital microscopes and record their findings, which will be compared across the period and against the results recorded by the other schools. Alongside that activity, a series of talks and visits will be arranged involving organisations such as KNIB, W5, Ulster Wildlife, the Peninsula Kelp Company, Queen's University Belfast (QUB) and the Exploris Aquarium in Portaferry. I am confident that initiatives such as those will contribute to the quality of people's visits to the coast of North Down.

On facilities management, I want to turn to safety issues at our beaches. We have seen increased reports around Northern Ireland and, indeed, the whole UK coastline of the problematic use of jet skis in areas that are used by swimmers and that are causing disturbance to marine wildlife. Incidents have also been reported in the North Down area. Although marine safety is a reserved matter, councils have powers to manage harbours and slipways under by-laws to prevent danger, obstruction or annoyance to persons bathing in the sea or using the shore. Some councils are now using permitted slipway systems to identify users and make them aware of any restrictions or complaints.

DAERA has powers to introduce by-laws, but only where there is a risk of disturbance to marine wildlife, and it is considering options to develop more by-laws to regulate the use of jet skis in marine-protected areas that are considered at risk. DAERA is committed to a collaborative approach to tackling that issue, and it has developed links with councils to produce advice and guidance for jet ski users. The management of jet skis was discussed at the Better Beaches Forum on 25 October 2021, and there was an agreement to establish an advisory group that will help to develop complementary measures by councils, which will focus on public safety, and by DAERA, which will focus on protecting marine wildlife from disturbance.

I believe that the first meeting will take place soon.

The third area of the Better Beaches Forum's action plan is:

"Keeping the public and media better informed".

Members may be aware of an EU-funded project to predict bathing water quality at six sites across Northern Ireland: Castlerock, Portrush/Curran, Waterfoot, Newcastle and two sites in North Down at Ballyholme and Ballywalter. The EU Swim project partners, University College Dublin, the Agri-Food Biosciences Institute (AFBI) and Keep Northern Ireland Beautiful, have developed models to predict bathing water quality at all those sites as well as signage and a smartphone app to ensure that bathers are informed about predicted water quality before they choose to swim. I hope that that addresses some of the concerns that have been raised. That is a major step forward, as bathing water quality had been able to be provided only retrospectively.

I will conclude by informing Members about a current consultation and one planned for the near future. The first is the UK marine strategy consultation, through which UK marine and fisheries Ministers are seeking views on the measures being taken across the UK to address marine litter pollution and other issues. The consultation is live and is on the DAERA website. It closes on 29 November, and I encourage everyone with an interest in our coastal environment to take part.

The Minister plans a review of bathing waters during 2022. He is aware of the huge increase in wild-water swimming and plans a public consultation during the winter period to take views on whether new sites need to be considered for identification as places where the public is safe to bathe. The consultation will also address matters such as the length of the bathing season, because the Minister is aware that, as others mentioned, people enjoy swimming all year round, although "enjoying" is, perhaps, not a word that I would use to describe swimming in every month of the year. All councils, including those with possible inland bathing water sites, have been contacted in a preconsultation exercise. I encourage Members to get involved and to watch out for the consultation.

Members' contributions had a consistent theme. I do not intend to mention all the subjects addressed during the debate, but it is important to recognise a few comments that Members made.

The Member who secured the debate, like others, realised the growing importance to many people of sea swimming and recognised not just the physical but the mental health benefits that come from it. His comments on the need for people to be able to engage in open-water swimming and the need for increased testing were echoed by Stephen Dunne. I will certainly pass that on to the Department. Mr Dunne also mentioned the need for all Departments to work together. He mentioned the Department for Infrastructure in particular, and we can all agree that a cross-departmental approach is required.

Mr Chambers gave us, in graphic detail, a history of sewerage infrastructure in North Down. Every day is a school day, and I certainly know a lot more about the subject than I did an hour ago. I am grateful to him for that, but he raises some important issues, and it is only right that we look at the quality of our infrastructure system, because that has a direct impact on how we enjoy our coastline. As Economy Minister, with responsibility for tourism, I want to see that expand. To that end, I was delighted to meet the team from Ards and North Down Borough Council yesterday. The team was at the World Travel Market in London, and members told me about all the sites that I can enjoy in Ards and North Down. The Member's council is doing a very good job. Many of those sites offer water-based activities, and the team encouraged me to come paddleboarding, which I may well take up in the near future. As other Members mentioned — Mr Muir and Mr Dunne — there is so much potential on that water, and we need to make sure that we have it as clean as we possibly can.

I am also grateful to Mr Easton for the points that he raised, particularly around the importance of wildlife. We spoke a lot about the impact on us as humans as we try to enjoy our coastlines, but he was absolutely right to highlight the impact on wildlife. I appreciate his raising that issue, as well as the ever-present issue of dog waste in our communities. For the life of me, I cannot understand why that continues to be an issue and why we cannot see more responsible people, because it impacts on us all.

Ms Woods, in particular, mentioned the impact of pollution. It is absolutely right that there are not only waste water issues but pollution spills, diesel spills, fatbergs and all of the things that she mentioned. That is why we need to make sure that we have responsible consumers, businesses and members of the public.

Sinéad Ennis also spoke. She has left us now, but I congratulate her on turning a debate about North Down into a debate about South Down and on being able to bring Brexit into it. That said, it was an important contribution in that she mentioned the need not just for Departments to work together but for all of us to work collaboratively on this, because it touches on many Departments' responsibilities. Also, the issues that are faced in North Down, South Down, East Antrim and other constituencies are similar, so it is only right that we work on them together.

I thank Members who contributed to the debate. I hope that I have addressed all of the issues that were raised. If I have not, I will contact Members. Please be reassured, however, that the Department of Agriculture, Environment and Rural Affairs will do all that it can to improve water quality and safety at beaches in North Down and across our beautiful coastline. We will continue to do that, and, if necessary, additional steps will be taken.

I close the debate by reminding Members of the live consultation on the UK marine strategy, which includes measures to tackle marine litter. I also encourage Members to take part in the impending consultation to review our bathing waters. I hope that this has been useful for Members, and I again thank Mr Muir for bringing the issue to the attention of the House.