Top awards for the south's beaches
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole scoop most Blue Flags in the UK
Beaches across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole have once again scooped more Blue Flags than any other UK destination.
The three towns have 12 between them, including Sandbanks, Canford Cliffs, Alum Chine and Highcliffe.
The flags signify a beach is clean and tidy.
Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole have also secured 14 Seaside Awards, which celebrate the quality and diversity of our coastline.
The news comes as BCP Council relaunches its Leave Only Footprints campaign to encourage visitors to help keep our stunning coastline and open spaces clean.
Achieving the Blue Flag accolade for the 36th time in Poole was Sandbanks, which has received the recognition every year since the scheme was launched, with Shore Road, Canford Cliffs and Branksome Chine also being honoured.
In Christchurch, Highcliffe Beach, Friars Cliff and Avon Beach were honoured for the second year in a row and in Bournemouth, Alum Chine, Durley Chine, Manor Steps, Fisherman’s Walk and Southbourne received the flags.
Under the banner, Leave Only Footprints, beachgoers are invited to enjoy our award-winning beaches and clear up at the end of the day, take litter home or use the bins provided.
Anthony Rogers, BCP Council’s Head of Seafront, said: “We are extremely proud of the number of awards we’ve received this year.
“Our teams work incredibly hard behind the scenes to care for the beaches we all love and enjoy.
"We are lucky to be the guardians of such a breath-taking stretch of coastline and it’s great to know that Keep Britain Tidy have given us their seal of approval. We are encouraging all visitors to help us stay award-winning by picking up their litter, leave only footprints and help us protect our environment for generations to come’.”
Mr Rogers encouraged everyone to use the colour coded waste bins – blue for recycling and black for general waste.
Visitors to the region’s beaches are also being encouraged to use free water refill stations installed along the seafront in 2022, and which have been estimated to save 19,000 plastic bottles per month from the seafront in the busy summer period.
There are also additional measures, such as toy libraries, where children’s beach toys could be recycled and reused, along the seafront.
It will be attempting to reduce plastic waste at its beach-based kiosk at Durley Chine, by not selling any products wrapped in single use plastic and selling returnable cups instead – a model the council will trial to then roll out across its other seafront catering sites if successful.
Blue Flags are only presented to well-managed beaches with excellent water quality and environmental education programmes.
All the Blue Flag Awards-winning beaches across Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole were also given Seaside Awards, along with Bournemouth Pier and Boscombe Pier.
Keep Britain Tidy’s Chief Executive, Allison Ogden-Newton OBE said: “Visitors to a beach flying a Blue Flag or Seaside Award can be assured the beach will be clean, safe and meet the highest environmental standards, as well as international bathing water quality standards.
“The Blue Flag is the world’s most recognised award for beaches and marinas and, to qualify, each applicant must meet and maintain a series of stringent environmental, educational, safety and accessibility criteria.
“We’d therefore like to recognise and applaud all those who have worked so hard to protect and improve some of our best-loved and most popular beaches. The collective efforts of beach managers, volunteers, residents and businesses all contribute to the success of these sites in achieving the incredibly high standards demanded.”
BCP Council’s seafront cleaning team removes around 2,000 tons of waste each summer from Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole’s seafront.
The long-term aim remains to develop the Durley Chine building into an environmental education space.