The public have been urged not to enter the water at Exmouth beach following a pumping station incident. Officials from the Environment Agency (EA) are currently monitoring the situation.

Toby Codd www.devonlive.com

Officials say that bathing is not advised due to pollution from sewage. The EA said in a post on X (formerly known as Twitter) at 10.11am this morning (January 6): “We are aware of the issue at Exmouth pumping station.

“We are investigating what has happened. Officers have attended site and are closely monitoring activity, as well as working with South West Water to ensure the pumping station is back in operation as quickly as possible.”

Water firm drives 240 truckloads of sewage a day through town ‘to pump into sea’

Statement: “All the pumps at Maer Road are working as expected” challenged by photo evidence.

David Parsley inews.co.uk

South West Water has been accused of dumping millions of litres of raw sewage into a popular Devon beach resort after sending 240 tankers a day to an overflowing pumping station.

At the height of the problems last weekend, 18,000 and 10,000 litre tankers full of sewage were being transported through the East Devon tourist town of Exmouth for 24 hours a day from Friday until New Year’s Day, i has learned.

Since 11 December, the water firm has been dealing with two major pipe bursts in the town, which has led to untreated sewage being taken by a convoy of trucks to the Maer Road Sewage Pumping Station, just 200 metres from Exmouth’s two miles of sandy beach.

Campaigners say that due to the stormy conditions in the past week, the station has been overflowing and had a damaged outfall pipe and a failed pump. Some of the additional waste brought to the site has been seen making its way into a nearby brook that flows directly to the pipe that discharges it into the sea 40 metres from the nearby beach.

Geoff Crawford, the founder of Escape (End Sewage Convoys And Pollution Exmouth), believes South West Water should have taken the sewage to a treatment works less than a mile away and its decision not to “indicates that they knew the sewage would go almost straight into the sea and didn’t care”.

Mr Crawford told i: “They appear to have wilfully polluted the sea with millions of litres of untreated sewage and, as far as we are aware, none of these faults have been reported to Environment Agency by South West Water.”

South West Water, which has apologised for the ongoing disruption, claims that it was prevented from taking the sewage to the nearby Maer Lane Sewage Treatment Works because of flooding on the roads. But i has seen video evidence filmed at the same time the sewage was being transported that suggests the roads were clear.

An investigation by i has also found that at least one of South West Water’s pumps at the station was not working while it was emptying up to 240 tankers of sewage into the site for three days up to New Year’s Day.

The faulty standby pump was one of three, and would have been required in stormy conditions, such as those experienced in Exmouth and across the country during Storm Henk.

When asked about the faulty pump, a spokesman for South West Water initially said that “all the pumps at Maer Road are working as expected”.

However, after asking a worker on the site if a pump on the back of a truck was new, he told i: “No, that is the broken pump we just took out.”

Presented with this comment and photo evidence of the faulty pump, South West Water altered its statement.

The water company’s spokesman said: “The pump you saw was a faulty standby storm pump being removed.

“A replacement pump is kept on site to ensure it can be installed quickly when needed, and this was completed successfully yesterday.

“The standby pump is required during storm conditions if there is an issue with any of the other pumps.”

When asked if the standby pump would have been required in the in the 94mph winds and downpours during Storm Henk, the spokesman said: “At no time was the pumping station unable to pump to full capacity.”

When fully operational the pumping station sends sewage to the nearby treatment plant, but this has also suffered from flooding and over capacity recently.

During times of exceptional rainfall, water companies are permitted to discharge untreated sewage into bodies of water through points known as combined sewer overflows (CSOs) to prevent the system becoming overwhelmed and sewage backing up in peoples’ homes.

Mr Crawford, who has observed the pumping station every day since the sewage tanker deliveries began, added that he had calculated that during last weekend’s peak up to 500 loads were arriving at the site each day.

However, South West Water denies there were that many deliveries.

The company’s spokesman said: “We have 10 tankers transporting flows . . . to keep the burst site clear so a temporary pipe can be installed and a full repair can be made without the need for tankering. Each tanker is transporting up to one load per hour, making a maximum of 240 loads per day.”

Even at a level of 240 tanker deliveries, this equates to around 3.4 million of litres being delivered to the faulty pumping station each day.

While the route from the pumping station to the brook has grills preventing solid matter of more than 10mm to pass through, the untreated sewage is a sludge and contains potential deadly viruses such as Escherichia coli (E. coli) and the Enterococci bacteria.

Exmouth, which is currently a Blue Flag beach, failed to pass water standards in six of the past 10 quality tests since October.

Over the past few years sewage discharged into the neighbouring Sandy Bay has led to its water standard falling from “Excellent” to “Satisfactory”, just one level above the lowest level of poor.

Last year, the boss of South West Water-owner Pennon Group gave up £440,000 in bonuses in the wake of record water quality fines for the company.

Pennon chief executive Susan Davy waived a £157,000 bonus and £283,000 in long-term incentives after the firm was fined £2.15m last April for illegally dumping sewage into rivers and the sea in Devon and Cornwall.

Despite giving up her bonuses Ms Davy, who was paid more £1.6m in the previous year, still took home her annual base salary of £460,000, while the firm’s shareholders benefited from a dividend payout of £122m despite the company making a loss of £8.5m in the financial year to the end of March 2022.

An investigation by the Environment Agency found South West Water culpable for significant environmental harm.

According to South West Water’s own data, 60 beaches across Devon and Cornwall were impacted by sewage spills in recent days, including beaches at Lyme Regis, Torquay, Plymouth and Newquay.

A number of the discharges had been ongoing since before the new year before being exacerbated by Storm Henk.

The spokesman for South West Water added: “We are working around the clock to fix the issue with a pipe in Exmouth.

“We are sorry for any inconvenience caused by this ongoing work, which we’re working hard to resolve as quickly as possible.”

The Environment Agency was asked if it was investigating South West Water’s actions in Exmouth but it had not responded at the time of publication.

Rishi Sunak said in the summer he wanted to “max out” North Sea oils and gas.

MPs will vote for the first time on Monday on the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill.

How will “I would never vote to pollute our water” Simon Jupp vote?

Meanwhile:

Sunak faces new by-election headache as MP quits over PM’s oil and gas policy

Jane Merrick inews.co.uk

The Government’s former net-zero tsar has resigned as an MP over Rishi Sunak’s plans to allow more offshore oil and gas.

Chris Skidmore, who was chair of the independent government review on net zero and a former energy minister, said he would be stepping down as an MP next week over new legislation which “clearly promotes the production of new oil and gas”.

The move will trigger a by-election in his Kingswood constituency, where the Conservatives have a majority of just over 11,000, ahead of Labour in second place.

MPs will vote for the first time on Monday on the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill, which is being introduced following the Prime Minister’s decision last year to permit new drilling licences in the North Sea.

The bill would allow the licences to be given the go-ahead annually. Mr Sunak sparked fury from green campaigners last summer when he said he wanted to “max out” North Sea oil and gas, which critics said undermined the Government’s drive towards net zero.

In a statement posted on X, formerly Twitter, Mr Skidmore wrote: “Next week the Government will be introducing the Offshore Petroleum Licensing Bill in the House of Commons.

“This Bill would in effect allow more frequent new oil and gas licences and the increased production of new fossil fuels in the North Sea. It is a Bill that I have already stated my opposition to, by not voting in the King’s Speech debate in protest at the Bill’s inclusion in the Government’s legislative programme.

“As the former energy minister who signed the UK’s net zero commitment by 2050 into law, I cannot vote for a Bill that clearly promotes the production of new oil and gas.”

He went on: “To fail to act, rather than merely speak out, is to tolerate a status quo that cannot be sustained. I am therefore resigning my party whip and instead intend to be free from any party-political allegiance.”

Mr Skidmore, who backed Liz Truss in the 2022 Tory leadership election, had already announced in November he would be stepping down as an MP at the next general election, which is expected in the second half of this year.

But he said he had been forced to resign the Conservative whip because he could not support the oil and gas legislation before Parliament. This decision meant his constituents “deserve the right to elect a new Member of Parliament”.

He said: “I therefore will be standing down from Parliament as soon as possible.”

Alok Sharma, the Conservative MP and former president of the Cop26 UN climate summit, told Politico that the legislation risks damaging the UK’s “credibility” on net zero.

Crisis as multiple issues mount

The NHS in Devon has entered the highest level of escalation because of pressures on its services.

Radio Exe News www.radioexe.co.uk

It comes as they try to mitigate disruption during the usual winter pressures and staff sickness, on top of industrial action.

Now new measures include some hospitals reducing visiting hours or re-directing people from emergency departments to other services.

Dr Nigel Acheson, Chief Medical Officer for NHS Devon, said: “It’s vital that those who need medical help come forward as they usually would – using 999 and A&E in life threatening emergencies and 111 online for everything else alongside their GP practices and pharmacies.

Devon’s acute hospitals in Plymouth, Exeter, Torbay and Barnstaple are seeing increased cases of norovirus this week; a stomach bug that causes vomiting and diarrhoea. 

To prevent the spread of infection, some hospital wards in Devon have closed, reducing capacity at an already exceptionally busy time.

Devon’s NHS say people can help by:

•    Not visiting loved ones in hospital if you have symptoms of a cough, cold, respiratory illness, diarrhoea or vomiting
•    Washing your hands frequently with soap and water as this is the best way to stop it spreading. Alcohol hand gels do not kill norovirus
•    Getting your flu vaccine from your GP practice or local pharmacy. Some people are eligible for the free vaccine, including over-65s, people with long term conditions like stroke or heart disease and pregnant people
•    Getting the covid vaccine. Some people are still eligible for free ones.

Dr Acheson concluded; “January is always one of the most pressured times for the NHS in Devon. Six days of industrial action on top of an already busy time is making it extremely challenging for hospitals to maintain safe services this week.”

Urgent and emergency care remains available during the strikes.

“The people of this country are incandescent at having been gaslighted for so long by a Government packed to the gunwales with tinpot Ministers for whom lying is in their DNA. We’re mad-as-hell at being patronised; stop it, please, with the three-word, jingoistic nonsense.”

Sir Keir Starmer: Labour leader is wrong – we are not apathetic, we are simmering with incandescent anger

Opinion www.yorkshirepost.co.uk 

It is most unlikely that Sir Keir Starmer himself pores over the pages of The Yorkshire Post in search of political inspiration, though quite possible that those around him may, not least Leeds West MP and Shadow Chancellor of the Exchequer Rachel Reeves, in order to take the temperature of the region.

For had he the time or inclination to do so, certainly during the course of the past few months and years, he would have seen, in these leading article columns and elsewhere in this newspaper, repeated calls for a return to serious politics, meted out by serious politicians.

He will have seen readers’ letters calling for some of the very promises he made in his speech made in Bristol, when he spoke of ditching pointless populist politics and cutting out embittered cynicism from the thinking of Government.

These things are music to the ears of good, honest people. People who work hard to provide for themselves and their families, but can’t begin to dream of a nice holiday or a new car. Paying the bills alone has become an endurance test that never ends.

So, yes. Mr Starmer can, with authority and authenticity, state that he has in those matters judged the mood of the nation accurately, but he couldn’t be more wrong about one thing. People are not, as he said, apathetic. The electorate is not weary. The people of this country are incandescent at having been gaslighted for so long by a Government packed to the gunwales with tinpot Ministers for whom lying is in their DNA. We’re mad-as-hell at being patronised; stop it, please, with the three-word, jingoistic nonsense. It isn’t clever earworm rhetoric, it’s a disguise for yet more flawed thinking : Stop The Boats. Build Back Better. Stay At Home. The list goes on and on. Well here are three words for Mr Starmer, and any other politician who is looking to secure our vote ahead of the General Election: Must Do Better.

Just over 2,000 properties in East Devon pay no council tax thanks to a scheme for working-age households on low incomes. 

Will Goddard, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk 

The council tax reduction scheme helps residents struggling to pay, with discounts of 25, 55, 80 or 100 per cent based on people’s income and circumstances.  

As of October 2023, 4,516 working-age households in the district were receiving reductions, of which 2,004 were paying no council tax at all. 

The total number of claimants is down two per cent since April 2022, but the cost-of-living crisis is still plaguing the district with numbers still “much higher” than pre-pandemic levels, according to a report. 

This week East Devon District Council’s cabinet backed plans to extend the current scheme until the end of March next year. This will need to be ratified by councillors at a full meeting. 

Cllr Steve Gazzard (Lib Dem, Exmouth Withycombe Raleigh) said: “It’s very gratifying to see that as a council, we are helping those that are most at need.  

“To be able to take 2,004 people out of paying council tax I think is a momentous thing.” 

Council tax varies between districts and smaller areas known as parishes. In the current financial year, tax for band D properties in Exmouth this financial year is just over £2,200, for example. The lion’s share goes to Devon County Council, with the rest shared among the police, fire service, parish and East Devon District Council. 

The council tax reduction scheme is costing £9.8 million this financial year, but since East Devon District Council only receives around seven per cent of the total council tax cash, it is only required to pay seven per cent of the cost of the scheme – that is, around £690,000.