A project to reduce beach litter on Burnham-On-Sea’s beach in order to improve the town’s bathing water quality has this week urged dog owners to not let their pets foul the town’s beach.
Burnham-On-Sea’s recently-appointed Coastal Officer, Harriet Yates-Smith, is running the independent community campaign called Litter Free Coast and Sea Somerset, led by the Severn Estuary Partnership.
She attended Saturday’s Burnham Sea Dogs Festival on the seafront and spoke with scores of dog owners about fouling concerns.
“I spoke with many people about dog fouling on beaches because our recent survey found that it came out as a top issue affecting bathing water quality in Burnham,” she told Burnham-On-Sea.com.
“We have been asking dog owners where the issues are, whether there are enough dog waste bins, and if they would be interested in joining a new dog user group.”
“There has been lots of positive interest – people really want to get involved. Everyone wants to look after Burnham’s beach. Bathing water quality here really can be improved if dog fouling is stopped.”
Harriet says she wants to harness Burnham’s community spirit to reduce marine litter and improve the bathing water quality by “encouraging people to consider and reduce their own impacts on water quality through campaigns, events and education.”
