news release
    20th December 2004

Surfragette campaigners from ‘clean water advocates' Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) are back in Cornwall this morning having demonstrated outside a Brussels Environment Ministers meeting. The campaigners were calling for a recognition from Europe that they too are ‘bathers' and should not be excluded from new bathing water legislation that looks to protect traditional bathers from the threats of pollution.

Dressed in period costume and carrying trademark surfboards, ‘ladies' from SAS used ‘Don't Discriminate' placards to challenge Environment Ministers over unsatisfactory reforms to the EU Bathing Water Directive. The action takes its lead from the suffragette movement, which successfully brought women the vote.

As it stands Ministers are planning to ignore the use of Europe 's ‘bathing waters' by millions of recreational water users when they form a ‘common position' on the 29 year old legislation, expected shortly. At the moment the EU Bathing Water Directive sets standards for water quality and designates beaches, lakes and rivers that are suitable for traditional bathing across Europe . What it fails to do however is protect those groups who use water more than anyone else such as surfers, windsurfers, divers and dinghy sailors. By not broadening the scope of the bathing water directive to incorporate the needs of different types of ‘bathers' at well used spots, Ministers will have failed to protect the principle users of Europe 's waters. In short they will have condemned recreational water users to continue to run a health gauntlet by using water that can often be heavily polluted, particularly from sewage.

Richard Hardy, SAS Campaigns Director said: “By discounting ‘recreational water users' like surfers, windsurfers, divers and dinghy sailors from proposed new bathing water legislation, Environment Ministers will have discriminated against those most at risk. SAS asked Ministers to ‘Give Surfragettes the Vote' and instead support the European Parliament's view that the Directive should incorporate ‘recreational water users' in its definition of bathing as well as improving water quality standards to better protect public health”.

There was no ‘common position' agreed in Brussels yesterday but an announcement by the Environment Council is expected shortly.

For more information on the campaign please contact Richard Hardy or Andy Cummins on Tel: 00 44 (0)1872 553001 or Mob: 00 44 (0)7711 767548.

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