Fears have been raised that Scottish tourism could suffer now that an international awards scheme for top beaches has been abandoned.
Keep Scotland Beautiful, the organisation which coordinates the country’s Blue Flag bids, has revealed it is not making any applications to the scheme this year in favour of homegrown awards.
The dumping of the Copenhagen-based scheme, which is seen as the gold standard and recognised by millions of people across the world, has been blamed on cuts to public services.
Last night Dr David Green, from the Aberdeen Institute for Coastal Science – who is on the award jury – said moving away from the Blue Flag was disappointing and could have negative repercussions for Scottish tourism.
“We have a lot of very beautiful beaches in Scotland and it’s a great shame the Blue Flag has not been prioritised and given the support it deserves from government level, which then filters down to local authorities,” he said.
“I do not think that cutbacks are really a good enough excuse to do this.”
“I think it could impact on tourism. People know and recognise the Blue Flag system and it is very rigorous in water quality standards, as well as things like disabled access, things that people value.”
There are currently no beaches in Scotland that hold Blue Flag status, according to the scheme’s official website.
A spokeswoman for Keep Scotland Beautiful said they have introduced Scotland’s Beach Award instead, which offers an “efficient and cost effective” way of measuring the quality of the nation’s beaches.
She said those awards are more suited to the “specific nature of Scotland’s beaches”.
“In 2016, Keep Scotland Beautiful decided, in partnership with beach managers, not to offer the international Blue Flag, but to concentrate on celebrating success with Scotland’s Beach Award,” the spokeswoman added.
“Focusing on local environmental quality, the Beach Award is designed to complement the work currently undertaken by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency on bathing water quality and the RNLI on beach safety.”
Dr Laura Foster, from the Marine Conservation Society, added: “We have concerns that the water quality aspect is no longer included, and while the awards help to recognise some of the amazing rural beaches in Scotland, it may give the impression to
the public that the water quality is tested and is of excellent quality.”
