The Kintyre Forum

Hi Davie,
Hope you don't mind me posting this here.

The GRAB Trust is holding an evening event on Tuesday 19 July to highlight the potential loss of bathing water status at Machrihanish Bay when 3 guest speakers will be describing the different aspects of this huge and special beach
See here for more info and contact details.

http://www.machrihanish.net/grab_trust.html

All the best
Cameron

Cameron,

Thanks for the post - and no I don't mind - this is what the board is all about. Raising awareness on local issues etc.

Interesting to read about this.

On that note do you think the Councils should clean the beaches say twice a year or something like that. I seem to recall local groups getting involved in cleaning beaches a number o year ago - does this still go on?

Was at Dunaverty Beach recently and thought how much better the beach would look if a general tidy up of the seaweed was done for the summer.

Some glorious beaches about Kintyre which would look great with a tidy up. Starting with the nearest one to me - Dalintober!

Hi Davie,
I agree that councils should take some responsibility for the state of beaches, I remember when I was younger and the Ugadale was still a grand hotel (oops...giving my age away now), the beach at Machrihanish seemed a lot cleaner then, it was certainly a lot busier happy days.
I know in some places like Cornwall & Devon the council and local organisations keep the beaches clean....their incomes depend on it so it makes sense !! Picture the airial photo of Machrihanish Bay (on the Golf Club Site) and imagine how brilliant it would look if the council cleared some of the seaweed from the shore. In the old days they used to sell the seaweed to farmers, see some of the Ralston Letters and McNeil's book for details.
Oh dear I am rambling now...nuff said.

On a side note I have to say I am loving the forum, really enjoying the banter of bubbly jock and the likes..nearly crying laughing at some of it
Cheers
Cameron

Meant to say, ironically enough, after the posting last week I read in the Courier that pupils from Drumlemble Primary School were out in force a couple of weeks ago to take part in a beach clean at Machrihanish.

The beach clean was organised by the GRAB trust who have adopted the beach through the Marine Conservation Society's - Adopt a Beach Scheme. Under this scheme the beach must be cleaned four times a year and youngsters from Drumlember Primary helped to get started!

How do, for example, residents of Southend or the surrounding area go about adopting a beach? Dunaverty is a lovely beach but it would look better with a wee clean




Anyway here is the article from the Councils website about Machrihanish being adopted...

Fri, 08 Jul 2005 10:40:34
The GRAB Trust is holding an evening event on Tuesday 19 July to highlight the potential loss of bathing water status at Machrihanish Bay when 3 guest speakers will be describing the different aspects of this huge and special beach.


You will be able to take part in the Beach Brainstorm to find ways of documenting beach usage and save the bathing water status. You’ll also get chance to have your say on ways to improve the beach for the future.
The GRAB Trust manage the Seaside Award Beach at the Machrihanish village end of the Bay and have been asked by Clean Coast Scotland to submit an application if the bathing water status, as designated under the Bathing Water Directive 76/160/EEC, is to be retained. The application must provide documented evidence that the beach can meet the identified bathing water criteria of at least 150 users per day at peak times as set by the Bathing Water review panel.

Karen Judd, Beaches and Marine Litter Officer at the GRAB Trust said: “The application process provides an ideal opportunity for local people to get involved and help shape the future of one of the best beaches on the West Coast of Scotland”.

As a bathing water, the water quality is regularly sampled by SEPA (Scottish Environment Protection Agency) and if the status is lost, sampling may cease. The Seaside Award is run annually by Keep Scotland Beautiful and recognises well maintained resort and rural beaches that pass the EC Mandatory water quality standard. Without water quality data, the future of Argyll and Bute’s only Seaside Award beach is uncertain. Whether you use the beach at Westport or Machrihanish or run a business which benefits from the prestige of having an award winning beach nearby, if the status is lost, it could affect you.

So come along to the event which will be taking place between 7-9 pm on Tuesday 19 July at the Community Education Centre, Campbeltown. Alternatively contact, Karen Judd, Beaches and Marine Litter Officer at the GRAB Trust on 01631 569188 if you can help.

FURTHER INFORMATION

Karen Judd
Beaches and Marine Litter Officer
GRAB Trust o
01631 569188

Their website is http://www.grab.org.uk/

Just bringing this back to the top as a reminder. If you think there's any future in tourism in Kintyre then we have to keep the advantages we have - like having a RECOGNISED bathing beach.

Anyone go to this?

John I meant to say

like having a RECOGNISED bathing beach

does that mean they will look at others too? No disrespect to Machrihanish but there are better BATHING beaches in Kintyre.

Yes Davi, It seems that if a community want to have a beach considered for a Blue Flag it can be, but there in lies the problem. The turnout at last nights meeting was up to our usual standard and the most vocal supporter of the Machrihanish Blue Flag came from Lochgilphead!

That said, I think it was constructive and GRAB went away with a few ideas about how to collect the views of beach users.

SNH made a useful contribution highlighting the unique nature of Machrihanish dune system, it is this I think we should be focusing on, yes lets try and keep the Blue Flag status but only as one facet of what is a remarkable environmental attraction which needs to be managed as such, in partnership with land owners, beach users and statutory bodies.

Some more BEACH NEWS!!!
August 2005: GRAB a Beach and Help Machrihanish Bay...
Do you think the status should be retained? Have your say and contact the GRAB Trusts Beaches and Marine Litter Officer. Even if you think not, gathering information on beach usage will still be useful.
Click http://www.machrihanish.net/grab_trust1.htmlfor the Press Release or http://www.machrihanish.net/downloads/Machrihanish%20bathing%20water%20news%20release.pdf to download it in Adobe PDF format
All the best
Cameron