77850

Central Coast Council has welcomed the findings of the NSW Government’s 2023/24 State of the Beaches report which has rated water quality at all of the areas beaches as either ‘good’ or ‘very good’ - an improvement on the 2022/23 Report.

The Council has also acknowledged the significance of Terrigal Beach's improvement to 'good' after three years of a 'poor' rating, which the Council says "is a great result".

Released by the NSW Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water, the yearly report gives a grading for each designated swim site from ‘very good’ to ‘poor’ as an indicator of suitability for swimming.  

The report is linked to the Beachwatch Program, a NSW wide program aimed at monitoring beaches and other swimming sites to ensure that they are safe for recreational swimming and when they are not, it provides a vehicle for warning the community of this.

Central Coast Council monitors 32 recreational sites across the coast - 15 Ocean Beaches, three Ocean baths, four coastal lagoons and 10 estuary sites.

Explaining that latest  ratings for the Coast’s beaches were “really pleasing” - in particular for Terrigal Beach, Central Coast Council Director Environment and Planning, Jamie Loader stated “it is really a great result that Terrigal Beach has improved to good after three years of a poor rating.

“Council has done a significant amount of work in the Terrigal Catchment since 2019 including the relining and upgrading of over 32 km of sewer pipes and smoke and dye testing to identify illegal connections.

“Lakes Beach, Soldiers Beach and North Entrance have all been graded very good - an improvement for Lakes and Soldiers beaches, from the previous year’s good rating.”

Broken Bay beaches have all been graded as ‘good’, however the report noted that the water quality at these beaches was often impacted by Hawksbury River flood water bringing with it contaminants and flood debris.

Like previous years, most estuary and lagoon sites were graded as ‘poor’, the exception being Woy Woy Baths which this year improved to a ‘good’ grading. 

Noting that while the estuary and lagoon site gradings were largely poor, most did show an improvement in the actual microbial assessment with some close to the ‘good’ rating,

Loader added “these results are indicative of the nature of estuary waterways which flush very slowly and are more susceptible to impacts of stormwater networks.

“Council is undertaking ongoing studies to determine the causes of these poorer results and remedial work when infrastructure failure is detected.

Canton Beach Baths, which has been graded poorly for a number of years, also showed an improvement this year.  

Mayor, Lawrie McKinna said the report was a timely reminder that all swimming sites can be affected by stormwater pollution, concluding “the numerous beautiful beaches of the Central Coast are at the heart of what makes this region special, and it is vital that we take care of these precious waterways.

“While our State of the Beaches report card for 2023/24 saw significant improvement, we will continue to roll out a number of measures designed to further improve water quality across the Coast.”

Click here to view the State of the Beaches report.

To view the Beachwatch daily forecast for reliable information on water quality visit www.beachwatch.nsw.gov.au

Main image: The 2023/24 State of the Beaches report advises that the water quality at Terrigal Beach has improved to 'good' after three years of a 'poor' rating. Credit: Central Coast Council.

Related Articles

30th October 2024 - Beach safety campaign initiated ahead of Melbourne Cup long weekend

25th October 2024 - Revitalised Lake Parramatta set for reopening after $1.4 million upgrade

23rd October 2024 - NSW’s State of the Beaches 2023/24 report shows slight decline in water quality

21st October 2024 - All-clear issued for Sydney beaches

18th October 2024 - NSW Environment Protection Authority releases update on Sydney Beaches

16th October 2024 - Sydney’s Coogee Beach closed after contamination from suspected ‘tar balls’

4th October 2024 - Wollongong to host beach safety day for multicultural communities

8th September 2024 - Sydney’s Palm Beach Headland becomes Australia’s first Urban Night Sky Place

2nd September 2024 - Further reopening delays for Shark Beach in Sydney Harbour’s Nielsen Park

30th August 2024 - NSW Government failing to act on shark net removal at beaches

20th August 2024 - UNSW safety research shows volunteer surf lifesavers have sole responsibility for patrolling NSW beaches just 14.4% of the time

2nd August 2024 - UNSW research indicates confusion over beach safety signage

21st March 2024 - Ballina Shire Council installs new Beach Safety equipment

11th March 2024 - NSW Central Coast secures global green award for growing a sustainable tourism industry

4th March 2024 - High temperatures see Penrith Beach swimming season extended until Anzac Day

20th October 2023 - Latest Beachwatch report shows most NSW beaches have excellent water quality

14th January 2021 - Terrigal Boardwalk construction and rockpool upgrade nears completion

5th November 2020 - Latest Beachwatch report reveals NSW beaches cleanest on record

3rd November 2019 - Dangerous pollution levels impact NSW’s Terrigal Beach

---

Support our industry news service
We hope that you value the news that we publish so while you're here can we ask for your support?

As an independent publisher, we need reader support for our industry news gathering so ask that - if you don't already do so - you back us by subscribing to the printed Australasian Leisure Management magazine and/or our online news.

Click here to view our subscription options.