What does this mean for us ?
Lets first have a look at what's needed to gain the coveted beach cleanliness award.
Blue Flag Criteria
The four main elements that make up the Blue Flag are.
> ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION AND INFORMATION
> WATER QUALITY
> ENVIRONMENTAL MANAGEMENT
> SAFETY AND SERVICES
Polzeath was always been in a good position to pick up a Blue Flag as many of the needed criteria where already in place, such as ammenities, lifeguard service etc.
One thing thing that has always been a subject of questionability is the quality of water in the area, sure it's been much improved since the 80's, when getting ill from surfing seemed to be a regular occurance for myself and other surfers. Raw sewage is still being spotted on occasion though, take a look at this link Raw Sewage on Polzeath on Wavelengths Surfing News website.
And only last year SAS called for Polzeath to lose its Blue Flag.
Its very important that we have Surfers Against Sewage to make sure that the standards of the Blue Flag are not relaxed and are continually improved, a couple of beaches have lost their Blue Flag status, so we should definatley look at how things can be improved so we don't go the same way. And as a parent and surfer I definatley think SAS's call for 'live sewage information on Polzeath and other beaches' . SAS on BBC about live sewage news
On Tuesday I was approached by PirateFM to make a comment on what it means to Polzeath to retain the Blue Flag award, to which I concentrated on all the positive aspects. It would be all to easy to list negative aspects such as my 1 year old daughter stepping in dog poo this winter, cutting my foot at Lundy and my foot swelling up to the size of a football or spotting the evidence of raw sewage on Polzeath beach ( see picture taken below ) because on the whole I am more than happy to let my kids play on the beach, rock pools, streams and in the sea. 
