I hope everyone managed to enjoy the nice weather we had at the weekend. I was able to spend some time enjoying the sea, and saw many people swimming and making the most of our beautiful beaches and coastal waters.
As you will know, the cause of looking after our beaches and waters is one very close to my heart as a keen swimmer myself and as an MP of a coastal constituency where we are fortunate to have some of the very best beaches in the country, if not the world.
With that, of course, comes renewed thoughts on how we treat our marine environment. I have long since taken an interest in improving the quality of our coastal waters and continue to raise this matter with South West Water and the government, working closely with charities such as Surfers Against Sewage (SAS) for many years in my former role as Chair of the All-Party Parliamentary Group (APPG) on Ocean Conservation. I know this has increasingly become a key issue for many local people as we have been able to better understand the issues around sewage discharge and pollution.
That is why I was pleased to see water companies in England apologise last week for not acting quickly enough on sewage spills and also glad to see their commitment to ‘put things right’, starting with a £10 billion investment. This latest step has come as a direct result of the work the government has been doing to put legislation in place to hold the water companies to account. This work is now seeing results with this latest response.
This is more than triple the current level of investment and will be used as part of a new National Overflows plan to enable the biggest modernisation of sewers since the Victorian era and also the most ambitious programme on sewage spills in the world, which I am sure all will welcome.
It is only right that more should be done to address this issue, which I raise with South West Water during our regular meetings. It is good to see that the water companies have listened to those concerns and come up with a plan to put it right.
Water companies have confirmed they will invest what is needed to deliver the Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan. Last year during my time as a Government Minister in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) as Water Minister, I was able to launch this Plan, which will revolutionise the way water companies tackle the number of discharges of untreated sewage and provide the means for us to hold them to account the deliver on these improvements.
If the plan is approved by regulators, waters companies say they expect that by 2030 they will have cut sewage overflows by up to 140,000 each year compared to the level in 2020. This will be the start of a transformation programme across 350,000 miles of sewer, a length that would stretch 14 times round the world.
Water companies will also aim to install thousands of new Olympic swimming polls to hold surges of rainwater that would otherwise overload the system and increase the capacity of sewage treatment works.
A detailed National Overflows Plan will be published later this summer outlining each water company’s approach to improving their overflows which I will be looking at closely.
A new independently-overseen National Environment Data Hub will also be set up to provide the public with up-to-date information on the operation of all 15,000 sewage overflows in England. This means that for the first time in the world, people will be able to get national near real time information on what is happening.
Earlier this year South West Water launched a new water quality map, known as WaterFit Live, that shares open information and also allows people to have their say on how we all protect and improve our local beaches.
At Mawgan Porth, for example, I can now see that the number of storm overflow discharges has been reducing since 2020 and South West Water has earmarked £1.24 million of investment until March 2025 to improve water quality.
Figures from WaterFit also show that storm overflow discharges have halved at Gorran Haven beach since 2020 and South West Water will be making more than £900,000 available until March 2025 to improve water quality and mitigate environmental impact.
It is also good to see that there are currently no storm overflows impacting a number of beaches in the constituency, including Tolcarne, Lusty Glaze and Crinnis, although I am still regularly contacted about storm overflow discharges at those locations. That is why it is good that we now have access to real time information so people can check the facts for themselves rather than relying on misinformation.
I know that some people will never be satisfied with government’s efforts on this matter, but they underestimate the challenge ahead. Overflows are a result of the Victorian sewage infrastructure and act as a safety valve that stops water from backing up into the streets and our homes during heavy rain. If we were to stop overflows tomorrow, we would see sewage backing up into people’s homes and on the streets. Plus, it would cost up to nearly £600 billion to eradicated overflows meaning household water bills would go up to nearly £1,000 a year.
As I have previously said, it is simply not an option I could support. However, this is first government to take action to tackle sewage overflows. The government published its Plan for Water in April which sets out increased investment, tougher enforcement and tighter regulation to tackle every source of river pollution – including bringing forward £1.6 billion investment, with £1.1 billion being targeted on storm overflows.
Good progress has been made in recent years in both raising awareness of these issues and putting measures in place to hold the water companies to account. It is now vital that the government continues to work with South West Water and other water companies as they are the only ones who can resolve the issues we face.
However, we do need to be realistic. This will not be resolved overnight. It is a step in the right direction though and while I am pleased to see all that the water companies are doing, we do also need to remember that we are all part of the problem.
For now, I will continue to do all I can to work with the Government and South West Water to ensure we continue to make progress in reducing sewage discharges and maintaining our excellent water quality.
If I can be of assistance on this matter, or another, please get in touch with my office who will be happy to help - email: office@stevedouble.org.uk or call 01726 829379.
