‘Do better’ - Surfers hit out at Northumbrian Water over Littlehaven Beach’s water quality
Surfers in South Shields are calling on Northumbrian Water to “do better” to tackle water pollution at Littlehaven Beach.
South Shields Surf CIC has hit out at Northumbrian Water over Littlehaven Beach’s water quality.
A travel magazine recently used the ratings to “reveal” stretches of English coastline that it classes as “where you officially shouldn’t go in the water” - with Littlehaven among them.
‘A dirty water company’
Nick Jones, Director at South Shields Surf CIC, has gone through the water quality data and explained that Littlehaven’s ratings are actually positive on days where Northumbrian Water’s overflows aren’t operating.
He said: “We’ve found that Littlehaven Beach receives ‘Excellent’ or ‘Good’ test results on days when there hasn’t been an overflow in the immediate area.
“It is on the days where those overflows are having sewage pouring out of them is when we get a ‘Poor’ test result.
“Stories about poor water quality aren’t serving our town because they aren’t driving change, we need year-round testing and actual regulations put in place.
“We’re stuck at the whim of Northumbrian Water who are more interested in paying shareholders - it isn’t a dirty beach, it’s a dirty water company.”
Protest at Littlehaven Beach
Nick also called on Northumbrian Water to improve their operations ahead of the surf school holding a protest on Saturday, May 2.
He added: “Northumbrian Water need to do better, they’ve paid out billions to their shareholders and while that is happening, we’re being forced to swim in excrement.
“In order to not swim in excrement, you need to wade through hundreds and hundreds of individual pieces of data and correlate that against the Environment Agency’s test results.
“It’s an absolute disgrace – Northumbrian Water should be ashamed.
“The upcoming elections are important both on a local and national level and people need to know what their candidates are going to do to stop this, especially in a town that is dealing with the direct consequences of it.”
Investing in environmental improvements
Northumbrian Water has stated that isn’t just water companies who contribute fluctuating water quality levels and confirmed it is working alongside partners to improve the conditions at Littlehaven Beach.
A spokesperson for the company said: “Littlehaven was a newly designated bathing water in 2024, and much like many new bathing waters nationally, it was initially classified as Poor for its first year.
“It remained at this classification last year, and we know it can take time to bring a new bathing water up to standard.
“Between 2025 and 2030 we are investing £1.7bn on environmental improvements across the North East, which will help reduce the number of spills from storm overflows and help to improve our coasts and rivers.
“For Littlehaven in particular, we will be carrying out a detailed investigation alongside our partners at the South Tyneside Council and the Environment Agency to find the causes of this, and we will carry out project work as necessary under the Water Industry National Environment Programme.
“As part of these investigations, we will be using some innovative techniques, such as flying drones and rapid testing devices to collect data, to help make improvements as quickly as possible.”
The protest will be held from 10am on May 2 at Littlehaven Beach - full details are at: https://www.facebook.com/southshieldsurf.