Coosan Point, Athlone, in the early morning. Photo by Sharon Kearney.

New campaign to seek Blue Flag status for Coosan Point and Hodson Bay

A new community campaign is being organised with the aim of making Hodson Bay and Coosan Point the first areas on Lough Ree to be designated as Blue Flag beaches.

The internationally-recognised Blue Flag status is awarded to beaches and marinas that meet specific criteria around water quality, information provision, safety, and site management.

An informal community group being coordinated by Athlone resident Flan Barnwell has launched a short online survey, entitled 'Blue Flag amenities for Athlone' which is seeking opinions from the public on the potential designation for the two popular local sites.

The survey (available at: bit.ly/athloneblue) has attracted a positive response to date, and in the last week the campaign has been highlighted on local radio and social media.

Flan Barnwell said the establishment of Blue Flag status for the two sites would have to be driven by the county councils in Westmeath and Roscommon, but he felt it would present "an excellent opportunity" for Athlone.

"All over the country, fresh-water swimming was never as popular as it is now," he said. "At Coosan Point and Hodson Bay, there's a significant amount of swimmers who are swimming from dusk in the morning right throughout the day.

"Here is a great opportunity to put Athlone top of the list in the whole country in terms of fresh-water swimming, and it has all the facilities to back that up for visitors in terms of hotels and everything else."

The beaches and marinas awarded Blue Flag status were announced by An Taisce in recent weeks.

Some 85 beaches and 10 marinas were awarded the Blue Flag for 2022. The vast majority of Blue Flag beaches were in coastal counties, and on the Shannon no beaches north of Portumna received the designation.

"For a Blue Flag to be granted, regular water testing would have to be carried out on a prescribed basis. That would absolutely guarantee water quality, which would be vital for visitors coming to the area as well as for local people," said Mr Barnwell.

"(It would also mean) that swimmers must be protected from all water craft activity. That doesn't preclude water craft activity, but it protects the swimmer, and beaches that support multiple activities must have a management plan in place, including zoning for swimming, wind surfers and motorcraft.

"Our point is that the local authorities should get moving on this. Get stuck in," he said. "Work with the stakeholders, be they boat clubs, fishing clubs, sailing and swimmers. Get together and formulate a plan to have Blue Flag beach status for both Hodson Bay and Coosan Point.

"I think it would be really a massive advantage and could be marketed both nationally and internationally for everyone's benefit. There might be a lot of standards that have to be improved before Blue Flag status is assigned, but we should be out there looking for it."

He said that, from feedback received to date, including from people involved in boating, Sub Aqua, and swimming, there was "very significant" support for a potential Blue Flag designation.

In recent years, meetings of the Athlone Moate Municipal District have included discussions about Coosan Point being awarded a separate official status, that of 'Designated Bathing Area', which would result in the monitoring of its safety, water quality and level of use.

In 2020, there was an application to have Coosan Point designated as a bathing area, but this was unsuccessful.

Last October, Westmeath County Council held another period of public consultation on potential Designated Bathing Areas, and a proposal was again put forward to designate Coosan Point as a new location.

When contacted by the Westmeath Independent for an update on this process, a council spokesperson said this week that the evaluation of Coosan Point as a possible Designated Bathing Area was still being completed.

"The council is obliged to evaluate each public proposal in a rigorous and structured way under various headings, such as water quality, existing facilities, environmental impact, water safety, impact on other users and local stakeholders," said the council.

"This evaluation is not yet complete as a final water safety report is awaited, which is being prepared by an external agency.

"As soon as this data is received, and we have completed our own analysis, we will formally release the report on the evaluation of Coosan as a potential Designated Bathing Area," the council's statement concluded.