Sunderland Lib Dem group call for urgent council meeting on water safety
It's following the reports that athletes fell ill after taking part in the World Triathlon Championships in Sunderland last month
Last updated 8th Aug 2023
A group of Sunderland councillors is urging the council to hold an emergency meeting - to confirm whether Wearside beaches are safe to swim in.
It follows the reports that multiple athletes fell ill after taking part in the recent Triathlon at Roker beach - where E Coli bacteria was found in the water.
Liberal Democrat councillors from across Sunderland are calling on the Chief Executive to convene an emergency meeting of all 75 city councillors - calling for a debate, and vote on the making the council bosses:
• Start an independent Council-led testing process for assessing the water quality off Sunderland’s beaches.
• Set up an independent public inquiry into why the World Triathlon Championship Series Event was allowed to go ahead.
• Commission a full independent investigation and survey of the sewage system and outflows into the River Wear and North Sea off Sunderland.
• Provide an urgent update on how this situation was allowed to happen given the Council’s duty of care to participants and to safeguarding public health; and whether the water off beaches in Sunderland is safe to swim in.
Commenting, Lib Dem councillor for the seaside Fulwell and Seaburn areas of the city Malcolm Bond said:
“This incident has put Sunderland in the headlines across the country for all the wrong reasons. It’s a complete disgrace.
“If Sunderland Council knew the water was unsafe then they should have cancelled the event. If they didn’t know whether or not the water was unsafe then they have completely failed in their duty of care to participants and to public health.
“The public deserve the truth. That’s why Lib Dem councillors are demanding that Sunderland Council starts its own regular testing and publishes the results. It is only by independent testing – together with a full inquiry into what happened at the Triathlon and an independent survey of the sewage systems in Sunderland – that the Council can start to give the public the truth and the reassurance they need about swimming at Roker and Seaburn in the future.”
Statement from Sunderland City Council
"The City Council takes safeguarding public health and our duty of care to participants and everyone who lives and works in our city, and visits, extremely seriously.
"We are continuing to work with UKHSA North East's Health Protection team as they carry out epidemiological investigations to understand more about possible causes of illness in participants.
"At this stage we would not speculate until these investigations are complete."
The council tell us British Triathlon carried out water quality testing in the swim area for the triathlon in the two years leading up to the event, as well as in the build up to and over the race weekend, to ensure that water in the area where participants swam was safe to do so.
These tests, in the swim area between the two piers, passed the required guidelines for hosting a World Triathlon Championship Series event.
Both beach’s designated bathing waters are currently rated ‘Excellent’ by the Environment Agency, based on samples taken weekly from May to September.
Although Environment Agency samples taken on 26 July, the results of which weren’t available until 31 July - the day after the triathlon - showed a reduction in water quality, The Environment Agency believes this dip may be connected to recent high rainfall.