Surfers Against Sewage launches legal action over bathing water reforms
Campaign group Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) has launched legal action against the government over plans to change how outdoor bathing sites are designated – warning the move could leave popular swim spots effectively “too polluted to protect”.
The reforms to the Bathing Water Regulations 2013, due to come into force in spring 2026, would introduce a feasibility test before new bathing waters are designated.
Instead of all qualifying sites being brought into the system and given an improvement plan if their water quality is poor, officials would first consider whether it is “value for money” to clean up a site.
SAS argues this new hurdle will mean fewer sites are designated, monitored or improved – even where large numbers of people already swim, paddle or surf.
The group has filed a judicial review against the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs and Welsh ministers, claiming the changes undermine the purpose of the Bathing Water Regulations and could put public health at risk. The case is being brought with law firm Leigh Day.
“Too polluted to protect”
Under the current system, designated bathing waters must be monitored and managed to meet minimum standards, with poor‑quality sites required to have an improvement plan.
SAS says that if the new rules had been in place in recent years, 16 bathing waters that received a ‘poor’ classification – including Ogmore‑by‑Sea in South Wales, Church Cliff Beach in Lyme Regis and the River Cam in Cambridge – might never have been designated at all.
Kirsty Davies, Community Water Quality Manager at SAS, said the reforms would leave some communities written off:
“Too polluted to protect – that is the message the government is sending to communities left swimming in dirty water. Writing polluted sites out of the system rather than cleaning them up isn't reform, it's abandonment. The government appears to think that if you stop measuring pollution, it stops being a problem.
Bathing water designation is the only place where monitoring harmful bacteria is mandatory, and it's what holds polluters to account. Without it, communities lose the crucial information they need to stay safe, even at sites already classified as poor.”
SAS says people will still use their local rivers, lakes and beaches whether they are designated or not – but without designation there is no requirement for regular testing or improvement plans, and no routine monitoring for harmful bacteria such as E. coli.
Legal challenge to reforms
The proposed changes were first laid before Parliament in November 2024, with amendments presented at the end of 2025. They are due to apply from 1 April 2026 in Wales and 15 May 2026 in England.
In its legal claim, SAS argues:
The Secretary of State does not have the power to fundamentally change the bathing water regime in this way.
Introducing a feasibility test for designation undermines the core purpose and duty of the Bathing Water Regulations.
Ministers have failed to explain how the new criteria will provide better protection for public health and the environment, despite this being the stated aim of the reforms.
Leigh Day solicitor Julia Eriksen, who represents SAS, said:
“Our client will argue that the result of introducing an extra barrier to designation will be that some bodies of water, which may already be popular with the public, will not be designated and so will not be properly monitored or maintained.”
Communities on the frontline
Local campaigners say designation is vital for driving improvements where people already swim.
Vicki Elcoate from the River Lim Action group in Dorset, which successfully secured the re‑designation of Church Cliff Beach in 2024, said:
“Bathing water status helps provide the resources and focus needed to improve water quality where people swim."
"It’s not good enough for the water company and regulators to wash their hands of improved water quality."
"Rather than being poor value for money, it helps direct attention and money to where it’s most needed for public benefit.”
SAS is calling on the government to rethink the reforms and commit instead to expanding, not shrinking, the network of designated bathing waters - and to cleaning up polluted sites rather than excluding them.