Brown flag status

I'm sure many of you have been following the recent SAS developments in the news.

The organisation claims that at least 35 of our Blue Flag beaches don't meet the necessary requirements to fly the prestigious flags and should be flying Brown Flags instead. Yes shit sticks...

It all boils down to that old favourite of ours - the CSO's or shit pipes as we all used to call them. In order for beaches to be Blue Flag, they must let the public know about all discharges and pollution entering the water and amend their flag status accordingly.

The following do not meet these basic requirements and my own local - Rest Bay is one of them :(

Welsh Blue Flags not meeting the criteria:

North Wales - Denbighshire, Prestatyn central
North Wales - Ynys mon, Llanddona
West Wales - Gwynedd, Fairbourne
West Wales – Gwynedd, Abersoch
West Wales - Ceredigion, Aberporth
West Wales - Ceredigion, Llangrannog
SW Wales - Pembrokeshire, Newgale
South Wales – Swansea, Glamorgan, Langland
South Wales – Bridgend, Glamorgan, Rest bay

Read more here.

This is not to say the water is badly polluted, merely that we are not being told when it is and we all know these CSO's discharge at an alarming rate - which is not monitored as carefully as it should be and water companies have been reluctant to tell us exactly how often...

"35 beaches around the UK can not possibly meet the imperative criterion 28, requiring beach operators to warn the public during and after emergency pollution event, such as a sewage discharge from a combined sewage overflow."

I've been off ill lately with a nasty virus which affected my inner ear so balance and appetite went followed by vomiting, 24/7 migraines and general dizziness. I spent 3 painful days in bed unable to move.

2 weeks later and half a stone lighter, I am on the mend but I had another virus earlier on in the year after surfing.

Coincidence? It does make you wonder though, doesn't it...