Like many local authorities all over the UK, Wyre Council has its own team of Rangers, but also Waterfront Rangers who have specialist knowledge of the birds, plants and marine life found on our shores.

They work with volunteer rangers, local community groups and members of the public who share this passion and do their best to protect the natural environment.

Rossall Beach Residents & Community Group look after the seafront at the northern end of Cleveleys, from the end of the new sea defences to the Five Bar Gate near Rossall School. You can find out about what they do to improve the beaches and waterfront for both the people who use it and the wildlife who life there.

A programme of beach cleans are organised where the public and groups gather together at an allotted time and clear away as much rubbish as can be found, weighing and recording the findings which are then reported back to the Marine Conservation Society. The MCS monitors the rubbish found on UK shores and uses the evidence to lobby utility companies, manufacturers and the government in a bid to stop pollution at source.

With winds as strong as they can be on this coast, there is clearly an amount of litter that gets blown into the water and onto the beaches. A small amount is dropped by the general public, but by any means the most of it is washed up from the seas. A litter pick collects all manner of material, including the oddest of things like toilet seats, car tyres, and even Christmas trees. By far and away the most common things are drinking straws, bottle tops, the little plastic sticks off cotton buds, sanitary products and disposable lighters.

In the last twelve months there have been issues along the Fylde Coast with most of the beaches, with the exception of Cleveleys and Fleetwood, failing the tests for bathing water quality. Over the summer period, tests are taken at defined intervals all along the UK coastline.

In response to the test results, the whole of the Fylde Coast is now working together with the Utility Companies and anyone else who plays a part, to address the problem for next year and future years. A new Fylde BeachCare project has been set up with a full time officer who has the task of informing the general public, businesses and community groups how small changes in the behaviour of each and every one of us can lead to an improvement in water quality.

You can find out everything that you want to know here about Fylde BeachCare, what changes you can make and how to get involved.

Of course beach care and conservation doesn’t start and stop at litter and what the beach looks like. There are practical reasons why it should be removed too. For example, the string from balloon releases, rope and fishing line gets tangled around birds legs, wings and around fish and mammals, who then can’t feed themselves, starve and die. The plastic that is ground down into small pieces and floating in the water looks like jellyfish to fish, mammals and birds, who eat it and collect a stomach full of plastic which means they then starve to death.

Our shoreline and beach is a wonderful and precious resource that we should all look after and then enjoy.