Rob Stokes med rel: GOOD NEWS FOR NSW BEACHGOERS THIS SUMMER

NSW beaches are among the best in the world, the latest State of the Beaches report has confirmed.

The annual scorecard, released by Environment Minister Rob Stokes today, shows that 97 per cent of the 144 ocean beaches monitored by Beachwatch were graded as Good or Very Good.

“I am delighted that 25 years after Beachwatch was started by the Greiner Government in response to community anger about water quality at our beaches, our performance is improving out of sight,” Mr Stokes said.

“Water quality improved at 29 sites this year, moving from Good to Very Good.”

Along the coast, the State of the Beaches 2013-2014 report found:

· 206 (83%) of the 249 monitored swimming locations were graded as Very Good or Good, compared to 81% in 2012-2013

· 140 (97%) of the 144 monitored ocean beaches we graded as Good or Very Good, compared to 96% in 2012-2013

· 54 (71%) of the 76 monitored estuarine beaches were graded as Good or Very Good compared to 67 % of estuarine beaches in 2012-13.

“As well as monitoring 94 swimming spots in Sydney, Beachwatch supports and co-ordinates monitoring programs for 11 councils along the NSW coast to make sure communities know where it is safe to swim, and where we can improve,” Mr Stokes said.

“It also provides daily beach pollution forecasts for beaches in the Hunter, Illawarra and Sydney. From October 1 Beachwatch will now also provide daily forecasts for beaches on the Central Coast.”