This is sad, but in the world we inhabit today, it’s kinder to prepare prospective new district councillors for an unjust duffing up at a parish or town council meeting, or an ill-informed and accusatory email riddled with errors. It shouldn’t be like this of course, but as social media and “disruptor” mainstream broadcasters like GB News coarsen public life, anyone wishing to serve their communities must be ready or risk being sucked under.

However, at East Devon a new generation of younger councillors is coming through in my administration, and every now and then I think it is right to tip my hat to them in fulsome praise. It can’t all be about the negatives.

In Whimple, Councillor Todd Olive was elected in May 2023 and got off to a superb start at the age of just 24. Todd is around sixty years younger than some of the councillors, and he and his young cohort bring with them new skills, expectations of civility and depth of knowledge. In his case, it is around planning law and strategy, together with a marked concern for the local environment.

A couple of months ago, East Devon hosted an online debate with representatives from South West Water. It is fair to describe it as being from the “moving forward” school, limited apologies offered but in-depth explanation of why SWW’s sewage infrastructure kept failing and the history to that deftly swerved. I could see Todd’s face on the Zoom scheme, with almost visible steam coming from his ears.

So, what a good councillor does in the face of a public relations machine is do their own research. Todd, using his forensic skills, studied data from the Environment Agency to get a truer picture of how we in East Devon have been affected. Of course, the story before and after the New Year focussed mainly on Exmouth and the raw sewage tankered from failing pumping stations and in effect straight into the sea, or frothing up through the town’s manhole covers.

On behalf of the Exmouth and Exeter East Liberal Democrats, Todd spent hour after hour of his own time with the EA data, leading to the most unwelcome finding that of the top 15 areas in England for sewage spills, four are where we live or travel to locally: South Hams, West Devon, East Devon, Torridge and Teignbridge.

Digging into the specific more local data, Todd identified 15 individual wards in East Devon which had more than 1000 notifiable hours of spillages into a local water course in 2023. This unenviable hit parade goes Tale Vale, Woodbury & Lympstone, Sidmouth Rural, Clyst Valley, Coly Valley, Newbridges, Honiton St Paul’s, Exe Valley, Exmouth Littleham, Trinity, Feniton, Sidmouth Town, West Hill & Aylesbeare, Axminster, Exmouth Town and Budleigh & Raleigh.

Where does this all land for local people? First, which is very obviously going to happen this year, a change of national government. Second, a government intervention to put the interests of local people and the environment ahead of the private shareholders who are the natural friends of the Conservative party, which has favoured defunded and/or light touch regulation of the water industry nationally for many years.

Finally, local people need to keep the pressure on the government, the water companies, and those who might be future local or parliamentary members in the near future. We’re not all bad and more often than many people think, many of us work extremely hard against some very powerful interest groups.

Posted by

East Devon Watch

Posted on

3 Apr 2024

Posted under

Misc

Rise of the sewage tanker causes stink in rural towns

South West Water now has a fleet of 52 tankers, up 52% in a decade, supplemented by contractor vehicles.

Adam Vaughan www.thetimes.co.uk

A growing number of sewage tankers are blighting towns and villages across England, data released by water firms shows.

Wet weather caused a record number of sewage spills into rivers and seas last year. But it also increased the number of noisy, polluting tankers in rural areas, sometimes for months at a time.

Tankers are used to transport sewage from an overwhelmed treatment plant to one with more capacity, move a mud-like material known as sludge, or in cases of emergency such when as a sewer burst in the Exmouth area just before New Year’s Eve. That incident led to 240 truckloads of sewage a day being driven a day through the East Devon town as repairs were made.

Figures released to The Times by water firms show that the use of the tankers is increasing at some companies.

South West Water, which operates in Exmouth, now has a fleet of 35 of the vehicles, 52 per cent more than it had nine years ago. “Over the last few years the number of tankers has increased sharply, causing considerable damage to roads and inconvenience to residents,” said Andy Tyerman of campaign group End Sewage Convoys And Poollution Exmouth.

Anglian Water, which serves Suffolk and Norfolk, deployed tankers up to 103 times a day last year, the highest number since records began in 2015. On average it used tankers to carry sewage 48 times a day last year, a record for the period covered by records.

Mark Dye, of Grimston in Norfolk, said: “Anglian Water has been using the tankers long-term already. People here have had enough of their excuses and lack of investment to correct issues.”

Dye, a co-founder of the Gaywood River Revival group, recently found “extraordinarily high” levels of E.coli coming from the company’s manhole covers in Grimston’s streets, with polluted water flowing into the Gaywood, one of Britain’s globally rare chalk streams.

Wessex Water used 1,715 tankers last year, up from 1,038 in 2022. In 2016 the number was only 263.

Southern Water, which covers Kent, Sussex and Hampshire, used 231 tankers on 334 days of the 2023-24 financial year, the highest number by far in a ten-year period. More recently, residents of Southwick said they had been badly affected, with tankers stationed in the West Sussex village since February.

“It has been an ongoing nightmare to deal with major roads in Southwick being closed off. Large trucks, ugly fences and sewage tankers have taken over the whole area,” Bella Boersma, a 24-year old student, said. She said that communication between Southern Water and locals had been “completely unacceptable”.

Hayley Moore, who owns Koh Koh Chocolate Boutique in the town, blamed the disruption from the tankers on the quietest lead-up to Mother’s day she can remember. “I strongly believe the closures all around the green are impacting foot fall,” she said.

Southern Water said that more than 750 billion litres of rain had fallen on Sussex between December and March, leaving the ground around Southwick saturated. It said the tankers were needed to alleviate pressure on the local sewage network.

One town’s battle against sewage

Robina Baine, a councillor for Southwick Green ward, said: “The constant noise and movement of tankers on the streets has also impacted many residents. Lack of sleep, for both adults and children, has led some to stay with families in other areas.” Baine said that pavements and kerbs in a conservation area had also been damaged.

Alex Saunders, Southern’s head of wastewater networks, said: “We use tankers during emergency repairs to sewers to prevent pollution. We know they are noisy and disruptive and we always work as quickly as is safe in order to minimise impact.” South West Water said that problems in the Exmouth area would be improved by the replacement of 800 metres of sewer, which is due to be completed this week.

An Anglian Water spokesman said: “This has been the wettest winter on record for the east of England. The ongoing issues at Grimston are caused by an infiltration issue from both surface water and groundwater into our sewers and also via the lateral pipes from people’s homes.”

Yorkshire Water and Northumbrian Water said the number of tankers they used had not changed in recent years. Several companies failed to release figures after The Times submitted environmental information requests. Thames Water asked for more time and later said the request was “too vague”. Severn Trent claimed that it did not hold the information. United Utilities argued that the figures didn’t count as “environmental information”.

The Times is demanding faster action to improve the country’s waterways. Find out more about the Clean It Up campaign.

Posted by

East Devon Watch

Posted on

3 Apr 2024

Posted under

Misc

I fought the water company over sewage and was told no one has a legal right to swim in the sea

This article suggests South West Water have already used their “no right to bathe in the sea” argument when the real question should be: under what circumstances do they “have the right to pollute”, if ever ! But this argument hasn’t been tested.

Owl understands that Jo Bateman’s claim relates to occasions when SWW were dumping sewage “illegally”.

Kit Yates www.independent.co.uk

I’m a keen outdoor swimmer. I swim with a group of friends most weeks in our local stretch of the Thames. Come rain or shine, winter or summer, there are usually at least two of our number bracing the river waters north of Oxford.

We do so cautiously, however, especially in winter when it has been raining heavily and it is almost guaranteed that sewage will have been pumped into the river a few miles upstream.

And we’re not alone in taking precautions – even events such as the famous Oxford and Cambridge university Boat Race on the River Thames were affected this weekend, with one rower complaining about the amount of “poo in the water” and at least three competitors laid low with stomach bugs (River Action UK claims Thames Water is responsible for that one). Cambridge, the winning team, even eschewed their traditional “throw the cox in the water” schtick in favour of an excrement-free lift of their teammate, Hannah Murphy, up inside the boat.

And I don’t blame them: for me, the giveaway as to whether there has been a discharge or not is the smell. Not the smell you might think you would associate with raw sewage, but the smell of detergent in the water. That and the bubbles floating on the surface next to you as you swim on down. If we do decide to go in on such days, then we are cautious to keep our heads above the water and to ensure we do not imbibe.

The group has become somewhat depleted over the last few years. One of our members became seriously ill after swimming in the water. So ill, in fact, he was hospitalised. His infection was isolated to a species of bacterium he could only have picked up in the river. His experience has served to deter many of our number from returning to the river, and to caution others against joining our group.

Ironically, our stretch of river is one of only two in the country to have been granted “bathing water status”. This does not mean what you imagine it would. It does not guarantee that the water is of sufficient quality to bathe in. It only means that it is monitored regularly, so that we know exactly how poor the water quality is.

When I swim in the sea, I am more cautious than in the river. The unpredictable nature of the waves means you can’t guarantee not to get water in your mouth when you’re splashing about. Last summer, I went on holiday with my family to a lovely little cottage in Cornwall about 100 metres from our favourite beach.

I was careful to check the website, which details whether there was sewage released into the small stream that flows over the beach and into the sea. Early in the morning of the penultimate day of our trip I saw that sewage had been released into the stream. None of our party went into the sea that day.

By the time we got home, I felt thoroughly fed up that the water company had spoiled our holiday for us by releasing sewage into the stream. It’s one thing to do it in the winter (although still unacceptable in my view), but this was August – peak holiday season.

I had read a letter in The Times that described the experience of one holidaymaker taking a water company to court. He claimed £500 for loss of amenity. His case, he wrote, was settled out of court. His settlement was the £500 he claimed plus the £50 it had cost to lodge the claim. The author told readers that the claim took “minutes”, and he concluded the letter by encouraging others to do the same.

So I did. Only my case was not so straightforward. I received a letter back from South West Water vigorously rebutting the claim. Some parts of the rebuttal I found difficult to credit. The audacity of it shocked me. Although they admitted they had indeed discharged from their sewage treatment works upstream of the beach, they denied that the dumping had any impact on the bathing water:

“The discharge was of extremely short duration, so any affect [sic] to water quality would have been minimal, albeit it is denied there was any affect [sic] at all.”

They went on to claim that I had no inherent right to swim in the sea and that, even if I did, their discharge would not have impacted my ability to swim or to enjoy the beach.

The letter was worded strongly and indicated that they would fight the claim robustly in court. Lacking the legal knowledge, the time and the money to fight a court case that would likely take place in the South West, miles from where I live, I decided, after much deliberation, to withdraw my claim. I fought the water company, and I didn’t win.

It was with interest that I read an article about another outdoor swimmer, Jo Bateman, who is suing South West Water, as I had attempted to, for loss of amenity. Interestingly, South West Water had used a similar line of defence with her, claiming it has no legal obligation to keep rivers and seawater clean of sewage and that no one has a legal right to swim in the sea.

I’m pleased to say Bateman is made of sterner stuff than I am, and has decided to fight South West Water in court. Both from the perspective of my holiday swimming and my regular weekly river swim, I will await the results of her battle with great interest.

The Independent has contacted South West Water for comment

Posted by

East Devon Watch

Posted on

3 Apr 2024

Posted under

Misc

After a decade of poor performance South West Water owner delays environmental rating target

The company behind South West Water and Bristol Water has abandoned its ambition to reach a four-star environmental performance rating in 2024, blaming “current operating conditions”.

Did it ever really stand a chance?

On what basis have bonuses been paid over the past decade?

Is it about to crash back to a one star rating?

What about meeting all their other targets such as “upgrading” the Maer Lane sewage treatment works in Exmouth in 2028? – Owl

Environment Agency South West Water Environment Performance Assessments 2011/2022

Year	Overall EPA star rating(out of 4)	Star rating description
2011	1 star	Poor performing company
2012	2 star	Below average company
2013	1 star	Poor performing company
2014	2 star	Below average company
2015	1 star	Poor performing company
2016	2 star	Company requires improvement
2017	2 star	Company requires improvement
2018	2 star	Company requires improvement
2019	2 star	Company requires improvement
2020	2 star	Company requires improvement
2021	1 star	Poor performing company
2022	2 star	Company requires improvement

August Graham www.independent.co.uk

Pennon Group said that it now does not think it will achieve the four-star environmental performance assessment result until 2025.

It expects to be given a two-star rating for the second year in a row for 2023, something that the Environment Agency says means that the “company requires improvement”.

In 2021 South West Water was given a one-star, or “poor performing company” rating.

“We anticipate retaining two-star EPA status for 2023, assuming Environment Agency confirmation of our improved water resource position,” Pennon said.

“For 2024, whilst six of the seven EPA metrics are tracking positively towards four-star equivalent performance, current operating conditions have meant the benefits of our pollution incident reduction plan will not be seen until 2025.

“As such overall four-star EPA status is now reprofiled for 2025.”

It came as there was a 50% jump in the amount of rainfall in the South West during the second half of the year ending later this week compared to the average over several years.

There have been 10 named storms since September, and 12 yellow weather warnings. This makes it more difficult for water companies to manage their systems.

“The significantly increased wastewater flows have impacted our headline performance for wastewater pollutions and use of storm overflows,” Pennon said.

Pennon has been investing to improve its performance in recent years. It has now completed work to diversify its water resources in Devon, and has done 70% of the works it planned in Cornwall.

It has completed works at Blackpool Pit, an abandoned clay pit outside St Austell which is now being used to help store water.

“In Devon, our winter pump storage work at Gatherley is also now operational, and along with the Lyd pumping scheme delivered last year, both new schemes have been used this year to support improvement in our water resources in Devon,” Pennon said.

Its new desalination plant in South Cornwall is expected to be up and running within the next year.

The company wants to increase Cornwall’s water resources 45% by 2025, and has met its ambition to increase Devon’s resources by 30% a year ahead of schedule.

Posted by

East Devon Watch

Posted on

3 Apr 2024

Posted under

Misc

Richard Foord asks: ‘Where has all the long-term thinking gone?’

Richard Foord, MP for Tiverton & Honiton

Driving between the towns and villages that make up East Devon, I am often struck by how our forebears planned ahead.

We have been endowed with Victorian church schools that are the core of our modern-day primary schools, for example.

Last week one resident said to me precisely what had been going through my mind. “We don’t seem to think long-term any more”, I was told on a local doorstep. I agree entirely – the Government’s record is one of short-term thinking in pursuit of quick fixes.

There are dozens of examples of short-term thinking in national and local government. Take potholes – there are half-hearted patch-up jobs all around, rather than re-surfacing. It is damaging people’s tyres and suspension, meaning that small savings on Government spending are leading to large costs to the individual.

The same is true of healthcare. Even three decades ago, people in the local area were donating what they could to the construction of community hospitals such as the one at Seaton. Now, The King’s Fund recommends that ‘national leaders will need to completely shift their focus … towards primary and community health and care’.

The lack of long-term thinking is most apparent in education. When the Liberal Democrats were in Government in 2011, education spending accounted for 5.4 per cent of all spending in the UK. In 2019, that had fallen to 3.9 per cent under the Conservatives. Figures from the Child Poverty Action Group indicate that over four million children are growing up in poverty, 7 in 10 of whom have a parent who is in work. These are children who, often through no fault of their own, are waking up hungry and going to school ravenous and irritable.

One of the simplest ways to tackle child disruption in the classroom and to improve educational attainment is to expand free school meal provision in primary schools. In government, Liberal Democrats made this a priority, and as a result every infant gets a hot nutritious meal at school every day. Education is an investment, not in accordance with the electoral cycle, but in dividends that will be realised in the decades to come.

Planning applications validated by EDDC for week beginning 18 March

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‘You need to develop a thick skin to be a district councillor’ – Paul Arnott

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Rise of the sewage tanker causes stink in rural towns

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I fought the water company over sewage and was told no one has a legal right to swim in the sea

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After a decade of poor performance South West Water owner delays environmental rating target

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Richard Foord asks: ‘Where has all the long-term thinking gone?’

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