Watch House Bay could become a designated bathing location
The Vale of Glamorgan Council is asking for views on a proposal to make Watch House Bay in Barry a designated bathing location.
Shared Regulatory Services (SRS), which carries out work in relation to water, air and land quality for Cardiff, Bridgend and the Vale local authority areas, has submitted an application to Welsh Government for this beach, known locally as Watchtower Bay, to be granted this status.
Working with local swimming group the Watch Tower Waders, SRS has gathered the necessary evidence for the application, which includes documenting the number of people using the beach during the bathing water season from May 15 to September 30.
If the application is successful, the beach will be included in Natural Resources Wales’ (NRW) monitoring programme and the water routinely tested each year for 20 weeks from mid-May.
It will then be assigned a classification for water quality, from excellent to poor.
A consultation has also launched on the Welsh Government website, asking visitors to the beach, which is located between Barry Old Harbour and The Knap, what they think about the possibility of it becoming a designated bathing beach. It will run for six weeks and close on March 1.
Six beaches within the Vale - Dunraven Bay, Col Huw Beach in Llantwit Major, Cold Knap, Whitmore Bay, Jackson’s Bay and Penarth - are already identified as designated bathing waters, while an application has been submitted by St Brides Community Council to add Ogmore-by-sea to the list.
Cllr Ruba Sivagnanam, Vale of Glamorgan Council Cabinet Member for Community Engagement, Equalities and Regulatory Services, said: “We are proud of our beaches in the Vale, particularly their water quality, and want as many people as possible to enjoy them.
“It is hoped adding Watch House Bay to our list of designated bathing beaches can help attract even more visitors and that, in turn, using it for swimming can boost their health and wellbeing.
“But it is important we canvas the opinions of all interested parties before this proposal progresses and I would encourage anyone with a view on this matter to share those thoughts.”