New bid for Blue Flag

Daryn Wood

NELSON Mandela Bay’s beaches will be receiving much-needed attention after the municipality officially launched Humewood Beach’s Blue Flag this week and applied to run a pilot stage of Blue Flag at Wells Estate.
November is the start of the 11th year of the Blue Flag programme in South Africa and the municipality, along with the Wildlife and Environment Society of SA (Wessa), will be working towards cleaning up the Bay’s beaches.
Wells Estate is one of 14 beaches in the country that have applied to run a pilot or developmental stage of Blue Flag.
Blue Flag Programme Eastern Cape coordinator Morgan Griffiths said the pilot stage gave the beaches time to develop their infrastructure.
During this stage, issues such as safety and security, lifeguards and cleanliness need to be taken care of, he said.
“Wells Estate lost its Blue Flag status in December last year because of a severe deterioration of infrastructure and lack of security, among other things,” said Griffiths.
He said the beach could reapply for full status once maintenance had been completed. He said the infrastructure needed to be redeveloped and the beach should be ready to get its Blue Flag back in July next year.
“But it needs substantial work,” said Griffiths.
Wells Estate received its Blue Flag accreditation in the 2005/6 season but lost it last year because of a “lack of resources and infrastructural concerns” among other issues, said municipal spokesman Ongama Mtimka.
He said there are a number of challenges they still need to resolve before it will be ready for full status.
“A turn-around strategy has been done and a budget will be allocated to implement it,” said Mtimka.
Blue Flag is an international annual award given to beaches that meet excellence in the areas of safety, amenities, cleanliness, environmental information and environmental management, according to Wessa which runs the programme.
South Africa currently has 27 Blue Flag beaches. Nelson Mandela Bay had four at one stage, with King’s Beach, Pollock Beach and Hobie Beach also having lost their status in recent years.
Humewood beach has had its status for 10 years, the longest in the country. Its status was temporarily suspended in January for a period of three months due to off duty staff and the beach being unmanned. The municipality resolved the problem.
According to Griffiths, King’s Beach is not ready to apply for Blue Flag status as it is in the process of redevelopment. He said the beach should be ready to join the programme next season.
“We are also hoping Pollok Beach will re-enter the programme for the full or pilot stage next season,” said Griffiths.
“Hobie Beach is not appropriate for Blue Flag status because of the high number of events that take place there. This prevents normal use of the beach.”
He said it was appropriate that the municipality had Blue Flag beaches serving the northern areas of Port Elizabeth.
“Wells Estate is a popular beach and attracts the most people compared to our other beaches.”
South Africa was the first country outside of Europe to implement the Blue Flag programme and since its inception the programme has become a global initiative with more than 40 countries participating and a number of countries undertaking the feasibility or pilot stage.
There are now almost 4000 Blue Flag beaches and marinas around the world. In South Africa, the programme is coordinated by Wessa, and it is placed within the National Coastal Project, which in turn resides within Wessa’s Water Programme.