Warning signs will stay at a popular Hobart beach over summer despite improved water quality

Tasmanians wanting to take a dip at a popular Hobart beach over the Australia Day weekend may need a Plan B, with warning signs cautioning of polluted water staying in place.

Kingborough Council Mayor Dean Winter at Blackmans Bay. Picture: LUKE BOWDEN

WARNING signs will remain in place at a popular southern Tasmania beach until summer’s end, despite recent testing showing “perfect” water quality there.

Kingborough Mayor Dean Winter said the southern end of Blackmans Bay Beach hadn’t failed water quality samples all summer but environmental health experts had advised council to withhold from lifting the beach’s poor water quality rating.

Kingborough Council conducted water testing throughout winter after a detection of faecal contamination last year caused the southern end of the beach to be deemed a threat to public health.

Despite satisfactory results last week, Cr Winter said council officers want to see more data before lifting the rating.

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Although disappointed the warning signs would remain at the beach over summer, Cr Winter said he was pleased by the “perfect” water quality results. “The work our team did over winter has taken Blackmans Bay Beach from being the most polluted beach on the Derwent to arguably the cleanest,” he said.

“We have had our environmental health team, engineering, plumbing and building teams working with TasWater on this for a year and the results speak for themselves.”

Cr Winter said Council was going to continue to focus on the issue, with a new position of stormwater investigations officer now on the ground.

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