Angus beaches among annual awards as new season begins

All bathing waters in the Angus area have achieved an ‘excellent’ classification from the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA), with seven scooping a Scotland’s Beach Award.

Environmental charity Keep Scotland Beautiful has announced more than 50 beaches which have won awards and will be flying the prestigious flag this summer.

Seven beaches along the Angus coast have been named in this year’s awards, Lunan Bay for the 10th time.

placeholder image — Seven beaches along the Angus coast have been named in this year’s awards, Lunan Bay for the 10th time.

Scotland’s Beach Awards celebrates the achievements of well managed beaches across Scotland, meaning that visitors and locals can choose where they want to visit with the knowledge that the beach is being looked after for people, nature and the environment.

Montrose seafront, Carnoustie, Arbroath, Monifieth, East Haven and Broughty Ferry have all been named this year, with Lunan Bay reaching its 10th year as an award-winning beach.

Barry Fisher, CEO at Keep Scotland Beautiful, said: “Scotland's Beach Awards are the benchmark for quality, celebrating clean, well-managed and sustainable beaches. Our award-winning beaches are all beautiful but seeing that flag flying means visitors can be assured that they are being looked after for people and nature.

“It is amazing to see the consistency of standards and continuation of award status matters to those who apply year after year, and I’d like to thank all those, in councils and communities, who do so much to protect, maintain and enhance our beaches, protecting the sand and sea for us all to enjoy.

In order to achieve an award, a range of criteria must be met, including beach safety, access and facilities, and cleanliness.

Focusing on local environmental quality, the award is designed to complement the work undertaken by SEPA on bathing water quality.

Throughout the season, which runs until September 15, the agency will take regular water samples and provide information including water quality classifications, monitoring results and pollution risk forecasts to help people make informed choices about where and when to bathe.

SEPA issues daily pollution risk forecasts at some bathing waters where water quality has previously been shown to be more vulnerable to short-term pollution following wet weather.

Details can be found on the agency’s website.