A person was rescued at a beach in Devon after a medical incident was reported. HM Coastguard and lifeguard crews rushed to he scene at Budleigh Beach, near Exmouth around 10am today (Thursday, May 16).

Shannon Brown www.devonlive.com

According to an eyewitness, an RNLI lifeboat launched from Exmouth before heading out on the water towards Sidmouth. They said: “Exmouth life boat launched this morning 10amish to recover a body from the waters towards Sidmouth.”

A HM Coastguard spokesperson said a medical incident had been reported and that one person was recovered. The RNLI said an unresponsive swimmer was being helped out of the sea at the beach. After being aided by members of the public, the swimmer was left in the hands of the South Western Ambulance Service.

A spokesperson for the Coastguard said: “HM Coastguard responded to reports of a medical incident at Budleigh Beach near Exmouth this morning, 16 May.

“Alerted at around 10am, Exmouth Coastguard Rescue Team and a lifeboat from Exmouth RNLI were sent to the scene. A casualty was taken into the care of the ambulance service.”

Exmouth RNLI said in a statement: “Exmouth RNLI lifeboat launched on service to reports of an unresponsive swimmer. At 09.55 this morning, H.M. Coastguard requested the launch of the RNLI Exmouth lifeboat following a report of an unresponsive sea swimmer being helped from the water at Budleigh Salterton.

“The ILB George Bearman II and three volunteer crew launched at 10.00 and set off at best speed to the location. Upon arriving at scene, the casualty had recovered sufficiently to be supported by members of the public and the Exmouth Coastguard Rescue team to a waiting ambulance. Our volunteer crew was therefore stood down and returned to station.”

Standing room only in the council chamber

Torbay Council’s cabinet members were applauded by a standing-room-only audience as they passed a motion to protect Brixham’s Breakwater Beach area from over-development.

Guy Henderson – Local Democracy Reporter www.radioexe.co.uk 

Nearly 100 people travelled to the meeting in Torquay to hear the cabinet discuss making the council-owned Breakwater car park into an ‘asset of community value’.

That means an official endorsement that the car park exists mainly to ‘further the social wellbeing or social interests of the local community’, and it means that the local community would get first option to buy it if the council ever decided to sell.

The move also means that if the tenant of the Breakwater Bistro alongside the car park wants to redevelop the site, he will have to do so without encroaching on the car park or the beach beyond.

Last summer leaseholder Jack Turton announced plans to ‘transform’ the area, and hundreds of local people queued across the car park to examine the plans. Many were furious, and the brightly-coloured buildings in the proposal were described as ‘vile’ and ‘monstrous’.

Designers have since said they are going back to the drawing board to come up with something more acceptable, pointing out that the current bistro building has structural issues and needs to be replaced.

The original £25million hotel complex would have created a 44-bed hotel, spa and beachside bistro. But the multi-coloured design was compared to the fictional village setting in the children’s TV show Balamory.

The cabinet meeting followed an application by the Breakwater Beach Community Group to have the area listed, and council officers advised the cabinet to say yes.

Cllr Jackie Thomas (Con, Kings Ash) said: “I can see from today’s attendance that people are passionate and very keen to have this piece of land listed as a community asset, and I fully support them.”

And ward councillor Anna Tolchard (Con, St Peter’s with St Mary’s) told the meeting: “Breakwater beach is very precious to the residents of Brixham, and that is underlined by the number of people who have come along this evening to support the application.”

Cllr Adam Billings (Con, Churston with Galmpton) said the area was used for recreational purposes and had community value, and Cllr Chris Lewis (Con, Preston) said it was vital for any would-be developer to consult local residents and councillors.

“It is imperative that they take people with them,” he said. “We want to help Brixham, and we want to work together with everyone to provide a better Brixham.”

Cabinet members passed the proposal to protect the car park unanimously.

Harmful bacteria in rivers due to sewage pollution is going to lead to someone dying, MPs have been warned.

Adam Vaughan www.thetimes.co.uk

Speaking as the illegal dumping of millions of litres of raw sewage into Windermere was revealed, the founder of a charity trying to prevent severe river pollution warned that lives were being put at risk.

“I’m not exaggerating, somebody is going to die because of this pathogen levels in our rivers”, said Charles Watson, the chief executive of River Action UK. The charity found dangerously high levels of harmful bacteria in the Thames before this year’s Oxford-Cambridge Boat Race.

In a three-hour hearing of the environmental audit committee in parliament, the water industry announced it would need to spend an extra £4 billion to meet environmental targets. The move is likely to lead to increases in household water bills of about a third.

Water companies said last year they would need to spend £96 billion between 2025 and 2030 on sewage treatment work upgrades, new reservoirs and other infrastructure.

However, Stuart Colville, deputy chief executive of the industry body Water UK, said that figure had been revised up to £100 billion after discussions with the government about meeting environmental goals. Thames Water alone accounts for about a fifth of the spending.

Separately, six water companies — Anglian Water, Northumbrian Water, Thames Water, Wessex Water, Yorkshire Water and South West Water — will imminently face the result of a major years-long investigation into widespread rule-breaking at sewage treatment works. David Black, chief executive of the economic regulator Ofwat, told MPs that a decision was coming this summer.

The minister for water, Robbie Moore, said “he would not hold back” on companies that pollute waterways. He warned United Utilities, which caused the discharge of untreated sewage in Windermere, that it would face fines or penalties if a new Environment Agency investigation found evidence of wrongdoing. The minister called the incident “unsatisfactory”.

A telecoms fault meant pumps to a United Utilities waste treatment works stopped in February, before a separate set of pumps sent raw sewage into the lake for hours. The Environment Agency investigated at the time, but considered the case to be a minor incident.

Matt Staniek, of the Save Windermere campaign, says the lake is a dumping ground for sewage

The illegal discharge into England’s largest lake, revealed by whistleblowers who spoke to the BBC, came as the company was ordered by the data watchdog to release information to The Times that could show further illegal pollution.

During the incident in February, the emergency pumps operated for six hours. Insiders estimated that it would have resulted in more than ten million litres of raw sewage being dumped into the middle of the lake.

The company disputed the figure, but has not given an alternative one. It also said it had not been notified of the unexpected fault on the telecommunications network. An engineer did not arrive at the pumps for ten hours.

Matt Staniek, of the Save Windermere campaign, claimed the company was the single biggest threat to the popular tourist spot. “I can tell you this is a continuous and repeated pattern of regulatory oversight and exploitation of England’s largest lake. It’s used as a dumping ground for sewage and the watchdog is fast asleep,” he said.

United Utilities, which serves the northwest including Liverpool, Manchester and the Lake District, caused more sewage spills from storm overflows than almost any other company in England last year. A spokesman said: “This incident was caused by an unexpected fault on the third-party telecoms cable network in the area, which United Utilities was not notified about and which affected both the primary system and United Utilities’ back-up.”

The Liberal Democrats tabled an amendment on Wednesday to the Criminal Justice Bill for a new criminal offence for bosses of water companies that fail to tackle sewages. However, the attempt to give a criminal record to individuals and companies is likely to fail as Labour is expected to abstain.

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

The £4m fat cat water boss giving you diarrhoea: As her customers fall ill, how South West Water CEO…

The £4m fat cat water boss giving you diarrhoea: As her customers fall ill, how South West Water CEO Susan Davy has pocketed millions while her firm pollutes beaches and rivers (but don’t worry, her Devon home isn’t affected by contaminated water)

www.dailymail.co.uk headlines

Correspondent Kate Willcox writes:

The latest scandals to hit the water company industry  – raw sewage being pumped into Lake Windermere and cryptosporidium found in the water supply of south Devon residents –  is yet more evidence that the privatised water companies are unfit to run this industry.

The Briefing Room on Radio 4 on Monday evening 13^th May sets out clearly the reasons why the water companies are performing so badly.  Firstly, the water companies used their reliable income stream – water bills – to finance their activities and then borrowed heavily against the public assets that were handed over to them. The water companies had further cash from the tax payer to ensure that they could raise money for infrastructure investment. Shareholders’ money was not invested to maintain and improve the infrastructure; they just got dividends  of 77 million pounds to date for buying water company shares with no risk to their investments.  OFWAT failed to address this misuse of the assets which should have been used  to maintain and expand the water infrastructure.

The government ignored warnings at the time of privatisation that companies could fail to invest in the water industry and just reward shareholders and themselves, without strict regulation of the use of money raised against its assets, but these warnings were not acted upon.

The Government hobbled the regulatory bodies that are supposed to ensure that the companies run the industry effectively.  The Environment Agency had its funding cut to ensure that it could not carry out its duties effectively in regulating the water companies. The revolving doors between OFWAT and the water companies and the Government’s requirement that OFWAT do not prejudice the balance sheets of the water companies by enforcing their regulatory powers, has resulted in very gentle slaps on the wrists to the water companies. Now the water companies are coming back to the long suffering consumers demanding that water bills rise to pay for improvements to the water infrastructure that has already been paid for by consumers but spent on enriching shareholders and directors of the water companies.

Sir Dieter Helm Professor of Energy at the University of Oxford argues that the current extremely bad regulation of the water companies requires bringing in the special administrators to wind up Thames Water.   This approach could be used with all the privatised water companies to pass the water industry on to new and better organisations with a new regulatory model which will ensure that our water industry is run properly.  Wouldn’t it be great to look forward safe bathing in seas and rivers, safe drinking water and healthy rivers.

Yours sincerely,

Kate Wilcox

Dear Customer,

I wanted to provide an update on what’s happening in Brixham, south Devon.

Your health and safety is our first and foremost priority. That’s why, on Wednesday 15 May, we advised those in the affected area to boil their drinking water before consuming it, following test results indicating the presence of cryptosporidium at Hillhead.

Recent tests showed that water leaving our treatment works was clear. However, in the early hours of Wednesday morning, we detected small traces of cryptosporidium in the Hillhead area of Brixham. Working with the UK Health Security Agency, we moved quickly to issue a boil water notice to affected customers and businesses.

Since then, our ground technicians have been working around the clock to identify the source of the contamination and rectify the situation so we can resume a normal water supply. While we urgently find and fix the problem, we have been delivering bottled water to vulnerable customers and to local businesses, including schools. We have also made bottled water available to residents in the local area.

I understand the significant impact the boil water notice has had on daily life. In recognition of this burden, our compensation payment will be increased to £115. This payment will be made automatically, where we have direct debit details, or applied as a credit to your next water bill, where we do not. You do not need to take any action.

To those in the affected area and our customers across the South West, I am truly sorry for the disruption and wider anxiety this has caused. While incidents like these are thankfully very rare, our customers expect a safe, clean, and reliable source of drinking water. I know on this occasion we have fallen significantly short of what you expect of us.

We will be providing updates, including on our website homepage and ‘In Your Area’ section, with additional information on Facebook. Our team is also available to answer your questions.

All of us at South West Water live and work in the region, just like you. It is our home and a place we love. I am sorry this has happened.

I promise you that we will not stop working until the situation has been resolved and drinking water returns to the quality level you expect.

Yours sincerely,

Susan Davy
Chief Executive Officer

A primary school in Brixham has been forced to close today (Thursday, May 16) after South West Water (SWW) confirmed a parasite has contaminated the drinking water. Eden Park Primary School in Brixham announced that it would not be opening to pupils today following the outbreak.

Molly Seaman www.devonlive.com 

SWW revealed that a ‘small trace’ of the parasite Cryptosporidium had been found in the water in Brixham yesterday afternoon despite previously telling residents its tests were clear. It advised people in the affected area to drink boiled and cooled tap water to avoid contracting the parasite.

Bottled water stations were set up yesterday to provide clean, safe water for residents to take home. However, Eden Park Primary wrote to parents yesterday evening to say they had not received any bottled water.

In a post to parents, Eden Park said it would be closing today as it could not safely open for students without clean drinking water. The full statement issued last night said: “Eden Park Primary School were only informed this afternoon (15/5/24) that the school was in an area where the tap water should be boiled.

“The school have taken swift action to put safety plans in place and contact the appropriate authorities about providing safe drinking water.

“At the time of writing this update (7.30pm), and despite repeated calls to South West Water about the urgency of the situation, the school has not received any bottled water or assurances of when water will be delivered. To enable parents and carers to make childcare plans for the morning, leaders have made the difficult decision to close the school tomorrow, Thursday 16th May.

“All Year 6 children should attend the school as usual, to complete their final SATs paper in the morning. They should bring their own full water bottle and be collected at 11:15am. The school will also provide bottled water for children and staff in school tomorrow. No other children should attend the school.

“A further update will be provided tomorrow afternoon, regarding the opening the school on Friday 17th May. Thank you for understanding with this rapidly changing situation.”

It is thought hundreds of residents are experiencing a range of symptoms including watery diarrhoea, stomach pains, nausea or vomiting, a mild fever, and loss of appetite.

Cryptosporidium is a parasite that can live in the intestines and faeces of infected humans and animals. It can spread through swimming in or consuming contaminated water, but can also be passed on in food.

A South West Water spokesperson said: “Customers in Alston and the Hillhead area of Brixham are advised to boil their drinking water before consuming following new test results for cryptosporidium. We are issuing this notice following small traces of the organism identified overnight and this morning.

“We are working with the UK Health Security Agency and other public health partners to urgently investigate and eliminate the source. We apologise for the inconvenience caused and will continue to keep customers and businesses updated. Bottled water stations will be set up in the affected areas as soon as possible.”