Scarborough Spa’s mineral-rich waters are said to have turned the North Yorkshire town into England’s premier seaside resort more than 350 years ago. But today, seawater, not hot water, is the subject of discussion. Residents and tourists have been advised not to bathe in any of the town’s bays due to poor water quality. BBC News investigated how the bathing ban was lifted.
For John Dalton, swimming in the sea is nothing to worry about and is certainly something to look forward to. The 69-year-old man did not believe the water he bathed in was dirty.
“The water is very clear, you can see the bottom, there are seals and dolphins there.
“When people tell me the bay is dirty, I don’t believe them,” he tells me as he sips coffee at a beachside cafe after his second swim of the day.
“I think it’s a shame that companies can dump waste and toxins into the sea.” The media will frustrate people. You have to trust your own senses and the fact that marine life is abundant here. “Now people don’t want to go to this beautiful sea, crystal clear today, because of something they heard.”
But facing the wide, sandy crescent of the South Bay, no one swims in the cool, inviting waters.
A lone paddler disrupts the scene as they slowly drift away from shore.
The reason for the lack of activity is likely due to prominent warning signs scattered at the entrances to the sandbar, indicating the poor water quality of the area.
A short walk past arcades, ice cream parlors, and the harbor reveals a similar picture in the city of North Bay.
Although signs have been familiar in the South Bay since 2018, the advice to stay out of the sea here only took effect after a “pollution incident” on June 20. Often rated as excellent, Yorkshire Water says the drop in quality is due to damage to the display during the storm that swept through, causing sewage and debris to spill into the bay.
The company specified temporary repairs were quickly carried out, but instructions will remain in place pending new inspections.
Steve Crawford, who runs Fluid Concept Surf School in the South Bay, said poor water quality has had a “profound” impact on his business, resulting in thousands of lost revenue.
The 54-year-old told the Local Democratic Reporting Service: “I don’t work much in the winter because it’s colder, and that’s the time of year I pay the winter bills, get ready for the year. come and replace the inventory, but I barely make a dime.
“As a company, I can’t teach and lifeguards are actively telling people not to get in the water.”
Another business owner pointed me to an area just offshore and said they saw what they thought was brown sewage overflowing into the ocean last week. Although they say the no-swimming warning doesn’t directly affect their customers, it’s “a big deal” in the city.
On the vast Marine Drive, which connects the two bays, visitors Christine Sykes and Carol Voakes look at a bulletin board erected by Yorkshire Water some time ago.
At the top it reads “Make Yorkshire’s beaches the best in Europe” and explains how £50 million was spent on the area between 2011 and 2014.
He explained how the investment means the company can “store more rainwater in the event of heavy or prolonged rain when the drainage system may become overwhelmed”.
Two dog walkers told me they would be skeptical about letting their animals swim in the water. “We thought it was terrible that this happened.
Christine said: “We worry about the dogs getting into the water and it’s a shame for the little kids, all they want is to get in the water.
“The quality of the water has to be good, we pay for the water,” added Carol.
Hotel owner Lynn Jackson, of the Scarborough Hotel Association, said team members have not seen a drop in bookings so far, but are concerned families planning a summer break may have to think twice. .
“Unfortunately, that’s one of the risks you take when you’re exposed to any water. I don’t think there’s a bit of water in the UK that doesn’t have sewage, that’s a calculated risk. maths. “I’m very conscious of it, I’m a friend of surfers, I’ve been in meetings [on this issue], it seems like whatever you do and whatever you say, Nothing changes.”
However, she cautioned against just blaming water companies, adding that trash on beaches can be washed away by water, while trash, oil and fuel spills from boats can also cause damage. impact.
Back in the South Bay, a man renting a deck chair pointed to signs warning of bathing water and then two columns that he said mark safe swimming areas.
He described it as “confusing” for visitors.
Charity shop volunteers Sue Emms, 79, and Val Humphreys, 88, say they have swum in the sea in Scarborough since they were children, but that people were now becoming more aware of water quality.
Sue told me: “There’s a lot more information nowadays. I don’t think I would be very happy going in now, I wouldn’t go in it myself personally.
“People come to Scarborough with their children so I would have thought maybe they will go somewhere else now.”
North Yorkshire Council says the water quality in the South Bay has been an issue for a number of years and requires a “multi-agency response”.
Councillor Derek Bastiman from the authority explains how a “dedicated business growth hub team” is in the process of contacting firms directly affected by the bathing water quality status to see if they can provide support.
He says it is “obviously disappointing” that the water quality was again rated poor in 2022 but the council continues to encourage visitors to the coast.
A Yorkshire Water spokesperson tells me a number of factors have an impact on water quality, including sewage, agricultural and industrial inputs, wildlife, birds and road drainage.
They say it can be “complex” to identify the cause of poor bathing water quality.
“In the 2022 bathing season, Scarborough South classification fell from ‘sufficient’ to ‘poor’ despite the number of sewage discharges on Yorkshire’s coastline reducing by half,” the spokesperson adds.
Nationally, campaign group Surfers Against Sewage has called for an end to sewage discharges into UK bathing waters and a 90% reduction in sewage discharges by 2030.
The Environment Agency says it is working to protect and improve bathing waters by regulating and holding polluters to account.
For people like surf school owner Mr Crawford action can not come soon enough.
“This is going to hit a lot of people,” he said. “It’s just that I’ve been hit hardest first.”
