Paul Arnott

I long ago realised that people who choose to stand for district council need to develop a thick skin.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

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.

SWW’s plan is to “move the spills from the Exe Estuary to the Sewage Treatment Works outfall” . The sewage treatment works at Maer Lane discharges at Straight Point.

With no wind at three hours after high tide, the natural transverse movement of the tide will direct a plume of whatever is discharged towards Steamer Steps and eastwards along Budleigh’s bathing beach. Until 2028 nearly three quarters (72.5%) of all the liquid being pumped down this pipe will be untreated (‘storm water’). After 2028 it is hoped the treatment works will have been “updated”.

The tides in Lyme Bay swing between rotating clockwise and ant-clockwise with the rise and fall of each tide. If Budleigh’s sewage holding tank in the Lime Kiln car park gets overloaded then its combined sewage outfall discharges into the sea at the Otter Head to the East of the beach. So depending on the tide and the pattern of discharges Budleigh could suffer a double whammy from its own in the East on half the tide and Exmouth’s in the West, on the other half plus everything coming down the Otter!

Silly question: why didn’t SWW increase treatment capacity first? – Owl

SWW’s own modelling for new pipe-line shows a concentrated E-coli plume heading for Budleigh’s bathing beaches. Can we believe their ‘negligible impact’ statement?

Petercrwilliams fightingpoolution.com 

In response to an Environmental Information Request this week (EIR24031), South West Water’s Head of Legal Compliance provided detailed impact studies of the new Long Sea Outfall pipe being installed off Sandy Bay / Straight Point.

This outfall discharges treated effluent from our region’s only sewage treatment works (STW), but also acts as a storm overflow for untreated sewage when the treatment works cannot cope (normally after rain). Maer Lane STW processes all the sewage from Exmouth and Budleigh and the surrounding area, ‘fed’ by a network of pumping stations like Budleigh’s Lime Kiln pumping station. Any sewage going into any of our rivers or sea which has NOT been through Maer Lane STW is, by definition, untreated.

The sewage infrastructure around Exmouth has been failing for some time, with regular discharges going in to the Exe Estuary, even with small amounts of rain. The Exe is also home to our only two officially designated shellfish waters – which means they are subject to additional protections.

The extract below is from South West Water’s 2024 Exmouth roadshow, detailing their plan to reduce the sewage overflows into the Exe estuary.

So, the plan is to “move the spills from the Exe Estuary to the Sewage Treatment Works outfall”. To do that they are increasing the capacity of the pumping station and pipes from both Phear Park and Maer Road pumping stations (see the map above) – pumping this sewage up to the Sewage Treatment Works (STW). So that extra volume of sewage will be arriving at the STW during periods of rainfall, from Autumn 2024.

However, this treatment works already fails to cope with what it receives during any rain, dumping 1,200 hours of untreated sewage into the sea in 2023 alone. SWW acknowledge this in their flyer below, stating: “additional treatment capacity will be needed to process storm flows and reduce the operation of the Sewage Treatment Works overflow” (ie: untreated sewage dumps).

SWW have an ambition to upgrade these treatment works in 2028, but they currently appear to have no funding approved, no specific designs, and no land to build this on. There is certainly no guarantee that this timing will be achieved.

Critical question then: when all of this additional load arrives at Maer Lane STW, from Autumn 2024, what will happen to the excess, untreated, sewage?

SWW are clear: “The current Long Sea Outfall does not have capacity to take these increased flows; so we’re upgrading the pipe.
Work to increase the capacity of the outfall at Sandy Bay, by putting in a new pipe, is well underway. To be completed by September 2024

In the response to the EIR, they state the max capacity of this new pipe is 990 litres / second.

SWW state that, until the STW are updated in 2028, nearly three quarters (72.5%) of all the liquid being pumped down the pipe will be untreated (‘storm water’), and only 27% will be treated effluent from the treatment works. Even after any upgrade works to the treatment works (2028+), 45% of the outflow from this pipe will be untreated sewage.

In figures just released for 2023, Maer Lane STW discharged untreated sewage through the old storm overflow 83 times, for a total of 1,200 hours. Maer Road pumping station discharged 74 times for 883 hours, and Phear Park pumping station 31 times for 231 hours. A total of 188 untreated sewage discharge occasions (so about one every second day) for 2,300 hours.

As we have seen, SWW’s plan is to move as much of these spills as they can through the new, upgraded outfall pipe, just off Straight Point.

Due to this significant increase in volume, we requested specific, detailed information on what modelling had been done on where this untreated sewage will go after it’s released from the pipe. SWW responded by saying that their modelling showed no impact on the Exe Estuary or towns to the East of the Exe.

However, they did state that modelling showed an impact on Budleigh Salterton: “given the increase in storm volumes and the fact the modelled plume was shown to impact the (Budleigh Salterton) bathing water under certain conditions.”

Only a single scenario was modelled in SWWs response, which clearly shows how a discharge at straight point, with prevailing winds and currents, does push an E-coli plume directly for Budleigh’s western beach, passing Eastwards, right along the shore line. This modelling also reflects very much what we experience when regularly kayaking from Budleigh up to Straight Point and back.

For context, The yellow cross top right, is just about where the Longboat Cafe is situated, with Steamer Steps to the West.

Although it’s difficult to relate these modelled E-coli concentrations to the legal safety limits, it’s clear that the yellows, oranges and red colours are at the highest end of the concentration scale, and that this e-coli plume comes both close to the beach just around Steamer Steps, with the current pushing this right along towards Lime Kiln.

SWW’s response to our FOI includes this statement: “A statistical check was required to evidence no deterioration at Budleigh Salterton given the increase in storm volumes and the fact the modelled plume was shown to impact the bathing water under certain conditions. It was concluded that statistically the increase in storm volumes coming from the Straight Point outfall will have a negligible impact on bathing water quality at Budleigh Salterton Bathing Water.”

This statement appears contradictory. The modelling “shows there is an impact” – yet the increased sewage discharged “will have negligible impact”.

It’s also worth mentioning (again), that SWW only count the ‘beach’ as being the section by the Longboat Cafe (which in this instance is some way further East of the main plume concentration). What about modelling the E-coli concentrations off Steamer Steps, where the vast majority of Budleigh’s local swimmers are active all year round?

What are we asking for?

This ‘plan’ aims to concentrate sewage overflows into the sea off Straight Point. The upshot of that – as their own modelling shows – is to risk pushing “a plume of e-coli towards Budleigh”. This situation may improve sometime after 2028, but there are no guarantees on the timing or the effectiveness of any work there – and it’s at least 4 years away.

There is a danger that SWW see this plan as a way to reduce their operating costs over the next four years, by dumping huge volumes of untreated sewage into our beach area. We need them to understand that this is not a free-pass, and that they need to do whatever is necessary to treat the max possible sewage, and discharge only as an emergency valve.

The response from South West Water raises as many questions as it provides answers. What are the modelling plots for all states of tide and conditions? How regularly will the plume spill out towards Budleigh beach (it certainly seems the prevailing current when we are kayaking in that area)? Does the modelling take account of the actual level of sewage dumps (eg: 2023 values), rather than SWW’s ‘aspirational’ spill targets’? We need proper assurances – and for South West Water to agree actions to mitigate this harm.

It would also be great to see SWW investing in infrastructure which actually properly collects and treats our sewage, rather than large capital projects (Lime Kiln CSO pipeline, Sandy Bay / Straight Point pipeline) whose aim is just to more effectively discharge increasing amounts of untreated sewage into our seas.

“Chatty rats” in the Tory party whisper to Owl that, emboldened by the success of his Easter Honours list, the PM is contemplating giving any of these 98, not already “recognised”, a Knighthood. He believes this will give them a fighting chance at the election.

He also wants to ensure their loyalty.

Of course, those 20 or 30 who are thought to have submitted a “Dear Sir Graham” letter to the Chair of the 1922 Committee will be expected to withdraw their letters in exchange.

The first tranche of these “Loyalty” Knighthoods and Damehoods could be announced in a surprise “St George’s Day” honours list later in the month.

Our Simon failed to be nominated in the Easter list, if he fails to make it into the “St George’s” list, he might still make it in the expected follow on “Mayday” list.

Or is he now a “lost cause”?

So watch this space! – Owl 1/4/24

Mid Devon District Council did not scrutinise its property firm ‘robustly enough’

Poor oversight of a controversial housing firm owned by Mid Devon Council contributed to its failure and financial losses, a new report has revealed.

Bradley Gerrard, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk 

External auditors Grant Thornton highlighted two areas of “significant weakness” linked to 3 Rivers Developments, namely that the council did not adequately scrutinise the firm and that the delay in approving the company’s 2022 business plan dented the authority’s reputation.

“The council did not exercise its shareholder role effectively, contributing to the failure of its arm’s length company and a significant financial loss,” the report said, adding that a protracted debate over the firm’s business plan “damaged the council’s reputation and meant the council was not able to set its budget in a robust and timely manner”.

The auditors acknowledged that the local authority did now have a plan to close the company, but its predicted net loss of £6 million could be higher or lower, and that even if it was correct, it represented “a significant amount” for a council of its size.

Andy Nichols, a senior manager at Grant Thornton, which is being replaced as Mid Devon’s external auditor by Bishop Fleming, said that the council’s oversight and stewardship of 3 Rivers was “insufficiently strong”.

He told the council’s audit committee.: “By 2022/23, there had been quite a lot of significant change in the operating environment, and while this was not all in the council’s control, such as rising inflation and interest rates, it’s clear that the council’s original objective [for the firm] in 2017 to deliver a financial return had not been fulfilled.

“The role of a shareholder is to hold a company to account using good quality financial risk and financial performance information, but it is incumbent for the council to ask whether, through the company, it is achieving its objectives, and where that is not happening to stand back and review whether it is achievable.

“That’s always good practice, but that did not take place.”

Mr Nichols added that the debate around the 2022 business plan was “not conducted in a sufficiently constructive and prompt manner”, and ultimately prevented the council from setting its budget for the 2023/24 financial year in time.

The report, which also highlighted “mission creep” from one objective to another, and stated that the council did not routinely compare 3 Rivers’ performance to its expectations, is likely to embolden members of the public who routinely raise questions about the firm and their perception of mismanagement.

Speaking after the meeting, resident Goff Welchman said he and his fellow critics would “keep on and on and on until something is done about it”.

He continued: “Some people will get heartily sick of it, but we won’t let up.

“You can count on me to keep picking at the scab until something happens, as this has had an impact on the public finances.”

He added that one of the authority’s newer councillors had spoken to him after the audit committee meeting to thank him for his persistence.

“The councillor said it was very enlightening for them as they were a new member of the council and so didn’t know as much about 3 Rivers as I do,” Mr Welchman said.

Resident Paul Elstone is also pleased about the Grant Thornton report. “It reinforced our concerns about the way the company was set up, and the lack of full and proper due diligence,” he said.

Mid Devon’s scrutiny committee set up a working group last year to learn lessons, with the aim of outlining mistakes made with 3Rivers and which shouldn’t be repeated if the authority starts another company..

The group outlined 10 lessons. However, critics claim its scope had unnecessary parameters, and that it was not given enough time to thoroughly delve into all the issues.

Councillor Rhys Roberts (Conservative, Cadbury) told this week’s audit committee that the council had taken “difficult decisions” to stem its losses in relation to 3 Rivers, and acknowledged it had been a “difficult process for councillors and officers.

“I believe it has been the right decision [to close the company] but I don’t believe we are in a position to say the lessons have been learned,” he said.

“It would be helpful if we can debate the actions and suggested measures that the working group set out in its report, alongside Grant Thornton’s report, and move to that area of the exercise so that we can repair the reputation of the council and improve public confidence.”
 

Plus: hospital admissions for diseases transmitted by water-borne infections rose 57 per cent between 2010 and 2022. 

Adam Vaughan www.thetimes.co.uk

A third of Thames Water’s sewage monitors do not work properly, analysis of official figures has revealed.

The new data comes on a torrid week for the UK’s biggest water company, after shareholders refused to inject £500 million into the heavily indebted business on Thursday, leaving it scrambling for funding and raising fears of the government having to put it into special administration.

Thames Water’s contribution to the state of the country’s rivers also came to the fore this week after new data showed a record number of sewage spills nationally last year after wet weather. The company had the biggest relative increase in raw sewage spills, which soared 112 per cent to almost 17,000 in 2023.

Yet even that number is likely to be an underestimate, according to an analysis of Environment Agency data by the Liberal Democrats. Across England, about 2,200 of the 14,500 monitors on storm overflows which discharge sewage into rivers and seas are not working properly.

Faults can mean monitors not operating for more than 90 per cent of the time, as required by regulations, or problems owing to installation or design issues. Across the industry in England, an average of 15 per cent of monitors are faulty. However, that jumps to 33 per cent at Thames Water, making it the worst company in the sector.

The high figure will also impact the reliability of a real-time spills map published by the company, which still remains the only firm to offer such information on dumping in rivers.

After Thames, the worst companies for faulty sensors were Southern Water and Yorkshire Water, both on about 18.5 per cent. The lowest share was at 4.4 per cent at Wessex Water.

One Southern Water monitor for the Solent was faulty throughout 2022 and only worked for 30 per cent of last year. One Northumbrian Water monitor at Brancepeth, Co Durham, has been recorded as broken for two years.

The government and the water industry have repeatedly boasted about how comprehensively sewage spills are surveyed, after monitoring 100 per cent of outlets at the legal deadline last December.

However, the reliability issues have led the Lib Dems to accuse water firms of a cover-up. “Water companies could be complicit in an environmental cover-up,” said Tim Farron, the Lib Dem environment spokesman. “Why on earth would a firm install these monitors if they don’t even work? The scale of the sewage scandal could be even larger than originally feared.”

A Thames Water spokesman said: “Taking action to improve the health of rivers is a key focus for us and we want to lead the way with our transparent approach to data. We have experienced higher than average long-term rainfall across London and the Thames Valley with groundwater levels exceptionally high for the time of the year.”

A Water UK spokesman said: “Due in part to their operating outdoors and in all weather conditions, some monitors will occasionally be temporarily out of action while maintenance is underway. This has improved and the regulator has taken tough new powers to ensure the highest standards.”

The analysis came as Labour highlighted NHS data showing hospital admissions for diseases transmitted by water-borne infections rose 57 per cent between 2010 and 2022. Counting 15 water-borne diseases, the number of admissions increased from 2,085 people to 3,286. The biggest single cause was Salmonella enteritis, which can be caused by eating contaminated food or drinking contaminated water. Labour claimed the increase showed “the horrific impact of the Tory sewage crisis”.

As Paul Arnott says the figures from the Environment Agency make for some shocking reading – showing just how widespread a crisis South West Water’s failure to get on top of sewage overflows really is.

Coming in at nearly 10,000 hours – half the total duration of all the 20116 hours of sewage spills in East Devon by South West Water throughout 2022 and 20% of the 2023 total – Tale Vale ward, encompassing villages like Talaton, Payhembury, and Dulford, suffered the most overflows in the East Devon in 2023. 

This is a stark illustration that sewage ‘poollution’ is not just a problem for our coastal towns like Exmouth: it affects all of us.

Remember, the inland “spills” all end up in local water courses and tributaries eventually polluting one or other of our four rivers the: Exe, Otter, Sid or Axe. These then pooliute our swimming water, beaches and the sea.

The table below shows the spill duration data as published by the Environment Agency for the “Top Ten” pooluted East Devon wards in 2023, compared to 2022. These top ten account for 80% of the total 2023 spills in East Devon.

(Caution: not all combined sewage overflows have been monitored during this period – there are some suspicious zeros in 2022. And emergency overflows have not been monitored at all.)

East Devon top ten wards for recorded sewage spills in 2023

A marine biologist has revealed raw sewage being dumped in the English Channel has left every marine species in the water “full of cocaine, amphetamines and MDMA”.

Barney Davis www.independent.co.uk 

Traces of the drug routinely make their way into Britain’s waters after passing through users’ bodies, and could be altering the natural behaviour of some fish including whether they fight or take flight from danger.

Professor Alex Ford, working alongside Dr Tom Miller of Brunel University, has been investigating the impact of one huge sewage pipe in Hampshire’s Langstone Harbour which carries the waste of some 400,000 Portsmouth residents.

He told The Independent: “I was shocked when I saw the readings to be honest.

“These are unpublished results but so far we have tested crabs, shrimp, oysters, limpets, worms and seaweed.

“We thought [cocaine] would make shrimp swim quicker but it’s hard to compare to other creatures.

“We don’t know the full effect of it entering the water cycle, unfortunately. Many of these organisms will be exposed to a wide spectrum of different prescribed and illegal drugs.”

He insisted the drugs are in such small traces that they wouldn’t be able to kill an aquatic creature by overdose but the drugs, especially cocaine, amphetamines and MDMA, could alter their behaviour.

He added: “We don’t really know the full effects of cocaine on behaviour change but studies using other behavioural altering drugs such as antidepressants and anti-anxiety meds can cause changes in a wide variety of behaviours including swimming activity, reproductive behaviours and predatory escape responses.

He added: “Some industrial chemicals like the forever chemicals in our frying pans and waterproof stain-proof clothing are bioaccumulating up the food chain.

“One Australian study predicted duck-billed platypus were getting 60 per cent human equivalent dose of antidepressants through eating stream invertebrates.”

“In the marine life, we are finding they are full of drugs – contraceptive pills, antidepressants – every single marine species that we’ve looked at so far is full of cocaine.

“If you give a fish contraceptive pill it starts to feminise, if you give crabs antidepressants it changes their behaviour because those drugs were designed to change behaviour.

“If you give them illegal drugs as well, it has very much the same effect it has on them as it would do on people.”

The professor called for a full public inquiry into the actions of water companies as raw sewage discharges into rivers and coastal waters more than doubled to record levels in England last year, new figures show.

Environment agency data published on Wednesday showed there were 3.6 million hours of spills in 2023, compared with 1.8 million in the previous 12 months.

Water companies discharge waste into rivers and seas when sewers are overwhelmed by rainwater, with outlets known as storm overflows acting as relief valves when rain is particularly heavy.

In a 2018 study, biologists at the University of Naples Federico II put European eels in water containing a small dose of cocaine – similar to the amount found in rivers – for 50 days.

They found the fish “appeared hyperactive” compared to eels which had not been kept in waters containing cocaine.

The drug accumulated on the brain, muscles, gills, skin and other tissues of the cocaine-exposed eels, researchers said.

The eels’ skeletal muscle showed evidence of serious injury, including muscle breakdown and swelling, which had not healed 10 days after they were removed from the drug-contaminated water.

Owl has also received images of damage to beach huts in Budleigh (see below). 

Owl’s Budleigh correspondent points out that huts were badly damaged in the Spring ten years ago and observes that, in recent years, some owners appear to be putting their huts up early and taking them down late. Gales are quite likely from mid October to end of March and this creates a potential H&S flying debris issue. This is likely to get worse with global warming.

Anita Merritt www.devonlive.com

Beach hut owners have been condemned for putting themselves at risk amid a raging storm in an attempt to salvage their beach huts. Coastguards were called to Seaton beach last night, March 28, following reports that people were on the beach as waves battered the huts.

Dramatic photographs of the scene today, shared on social media by Beer Coastguard Rescue Team, show the extent of the damage caused to some of the beach huts. One appears to have been completely flattened while another is shown upturned.

Others have been shunted off their bases with the doors broken following yesterday’s onslaught of high winds and heavy rain.

Beer Coastguard Rescue Team posted on its Facebook page: “Seaton beach this morning after last night’s high tide and storm. Beer and Lyme coastguards were tasked to attend last night as some people were putting themselves at risk of injury by trying to get to their beach huts as seas were breaking over them.”

Damage caused by the storm to beach huts in Seaton (Image: Beer Coastguard Rescue Team)

Yesterday, March 28, the Met Office extended its yellow weather warning for the region until midnight. It warned of gale-force winds expected for much of the south. Today’s weather is a much calmer picture with a mixture of sunny spells and scattered showers predicted in the south west.

Damage caused by the storm to beach huts in Seaton (Image: Beer Coastguard Rescue Team)

Beach huts at Budleigh 2024

Budleigh in 2014 (When EDDC contemplated all year leasing)

South West Water claims it has no legal responsibility to keep the rivers and sea in the counties clean and clear of sewage.

South West Water also says it is the responsibility of the Government and the EA to ensure clean water, not the water companies that manage the nation’s rivers and coastline.

Owl has consulted a local historian who points out that:

The medical recognition of the value to health of sea water is recorded in various medical treaties of the mid eighteenth century. The first reference to bathing in the sea in Devon was made by Bishop Pocock of Exeter in 1750 at Exmouth, which by 1759 boasted of its bathing machines.

Royal patronage by George III of the “cure” in Weymouth 1798 ensured the rise to prominence of the “Seaside Town” as an alternative to the “Health Spa”.

Typical contemporary medical advice, recorded in the “Royal Magazine Teignmouth” in 1762 reads: “For the sake of drinking that fashionable purging draught, seawater, and bathing…..numbers of people from all parts resort here in the summer season, and cripples frequently recover the use of their limbs, hysterical ladies their spirits and even lepers are cleansed.”

So the amenity of bathing in the sea to health is long established and fundamental to the existence and prosperity of Exmouth.

Public has no right to swim in sea, claims firm that dumped sewage at bathing spot

David Parsley inews.co.uk 

South West Water is claiming it has no legal obligation to keep rivers and seawater clean of sewage in its defence against a Devon swimmer who is taking the water company to court.

Jo Bateman, who attempts to swim every day off the coast of Exmouth, is taking legal action against South West Water, claiming its frequent sewage discharges into the sea have taken away her legal right to a public “amenity”.

However, in its defence to Ms Bateman’s claim, seen by i, the water firm states no one has a legal right to swim in the sea.

Despite owning the sewage network in Devon and Cornwall, South West Water also claimed it has no legal responsibility to keep the rivers and sea in the counties clean and clear of sewage. Water companies are, however, subject to regulation enforced by the Government and Environment Agency (EA).

The company said Ms Bateman’s claim has “no basis in law” and requested that the case be struck out and, instead, go to mediation.

Ms Bateman told i: “There is no chance I will go to mediation just to hear their public relations guff about how well they’re doing to improve the sewage network. I want to see them in court and that’s what I will do.”

On Thursday, figures from the EA showed that South West Water was one of the UK’s biggest polluters, and was responsible for three of the 10 worst pollution spots across England in 2023.

This week, i revealed the EA was investigating all South West Water’s sewage overflows since December.

Water companies are only permitted to discharge sewage into rivers or the sea if adverse weather conditions cause storm overflows. To do so in moderate weather conditions can be considered illegal.

In its defence against Ms Bateman’s claim that she has lost an amenity she is entitled to, South West Water states: “The law does not recognise such rights, nor does the law impose a duty on South West Water.”

For wild swimming – outside the bathing season – there is no legal duty to achieve a certain water quality standard, the firm said.

Its added that even during the peak summer holiday season, South West Water and other firms have no duty to meet certain water quality standards.

The defence states: “Even during the bathing season, there is no absolute right to swim each day.”

South West Water said it is the responsibility of the Government and the EA to ensure clean water, not the water companies that manage the nation’s rivers and coastline.

Neither the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs nor the EA would comment on South West Water’s claims.

While rejecting Ms Bateman’s claims, South West Water acknowledged her “understandable concern about the environment”, adding “it is a concern shared by many of South West Water’s customers, and by South West Water itself”.

The firm has said it is investing record amounts to reduce the use of permitted storm overflows across the region, including £38m earmarked for Exmouth up to 2030.

Ms Bateman, who is claiming compensation of £379.50, has submitted an action to the Small Claims Court, alleging illegal sewage spills have affected both her physical and mental wellbeing.

She has detailed 54 instances when she believes the water company illegally dumped sewage into the sea during 2023. Ms Bateman is claiming the company’s pollution of the Exmouth coast has led to what is legally known as a loss of amenity, which means she must prove she has been injured.

Ms Bateman added: “Their defence is 16 pages of guff. They’ve said things like, I don’t have a legal right to swim in the sea, which, of course, is absolutely rubbish.

“It’s widely documented that you have a right to go in what are described as tidal and navigable waters, which obviously includes Exmouth’s beach and the River Exe.”

Many clean water campaigners dispute South West Water’s claims.

The Outdoor Swimming Society believes there is a right to swim in tidal and navigable waters. The coastline in Exmouth is both tidal and navigable.

It states “there is a public right of navigation” on all rivers and coastlines that can be navigated by any non-powered boat, and therefore “a right to swim”.

Kate Rew, co-founder of the society, added: “As human beings, we have the same right to clean water as we do to clean air.”

Daniel Start, the author of Wild Swimming, said: “Everyone is legally entitled to swim in the sea or tidal waters.”

Geoff Crawford, co-founder of End Sewage Convoys And Poollution Exmouth, criticised South West Water’s response to Ms Bateman’s claim.

“I believe that the company has both a legal and moral obligation to not pollute, to minimise pollution and use of emergency overflows to a minimum and to treat sewage as they are contractually obliged to do, not to discharge, overflow and dump it in our rivers, seas and wildlife sanctuaries.

“They seem to have and even speak with an utter contempt for anything other than maximum profit.”

However, a solicitor familiar with swimming rights suggests the law is not as clear as campaigners suggest.

Nathan Willmott, a partner at law firm Ashurst, said: “The statutory regime governing water companies has been held by the courts to cancel out certain common law rights that water users would otherwise have against water companies for allowing sewage discharge into the water and making it unsafe to swim in.”

But he suggested that if South West Water were to be found guilty of breaching the regulations on when sewage can been spilled into the sea, then its immunity from prosecution may not apply.

South West Water declined to comment on an ongoing legal case.

The water regulator Ofwat was contacted for comment.

The law on prosecuting water companies over sewage spills

The law around whether an individual can take legal action against sewage discharges appears to provide immunity to water companies if they are abiding by the Environment Agency (EA) regulations on spills.

David Green, a senior partner at law firm Edwin Coe, refers to a 2022 Court of Appeal decision in The Manchester Ship Canal Company v United Utilities Water case.

In 2022, a Court of Appeal decision found claims against water companies, that may have existed under common law, were superceded by the Water Industry Act 1991. It meant that if sewage discharges were due to an inadequate infrastructure, then the companies were not legally liable.

The ruling agreed that United Utilities’ regular discharges of untreated sewage into Manchester Ship Canal would, in common law, give rise to a legitimate damages claims. It was also undisputed that discharging untreated sewage was a breach of the EA regulations. 

Mr Greene agrees with South West Water’s claim that “the regulatory regime is enforceable ultimately by government”. 

However, Mr Greene added that the Court of Appeal’s judgement left open the possibility that common law claims could be valid for discharges caused not by “policy” or “capital expenditure” decisions but rather “operational” or “current expenditure” issues.  

“Whatever the conceptual tenability of this distinction, obtaining evidence pointing to an ‘operational’ decision leading to discharge is likely to be challenging,” added Mr Greene.

Nathan Willmott, a partner at law firm Ashurst, shared Mr Greene’s assessment.

He added: “While certain common law claims may persist – for example where the reason for the sewage release is ‘operational’ rather than infrastructure based – there is little incentive on the part of the water companies to prevent those releases of untreated sewage into rivers as there is little or no risk of civil claims being pursued against them.”

An independent investigation is to take place into Plymouth City Council’s £72 million pension transaction deal.

Alison Stephenson, local democracy reporter www.radioexe.co.uk

The council used government money to invest in a consultancy firm to reduce a pension deficit in 2019. It says it has saved more than £9 million because of the decision.

But auditors raised concerns over the move which they said was unusual and is now the subject of a  investigation by the Department of Levelling Up, Housing and Communities (DLUHC).

Council Leader Tudor Evans (Lab, Ham) and head of finance David Northey have welcomed the scrutiny.

“We are happy to work with an independent team to review the whole process and ensure everyone can learn from this, ” said Cllr Evans.

David Northey added that he would be “open and transparent”.

Questions will be asked of audit and governance committee members from 2019 and officers and financial management and practices looked into.

The Labour party was in control of the council at that time.

“I hope that everyone will take the opportunity to tell them exactly what they know and didn’t know and any issues that arise will be in their recommendations I’m sure,” said Mr Northey.

He added that he had asked the levelling up department to conduct its investigation sooner rather than later so the council could draw a line under it, and that things had moved on.

The controversial decision has held up accounts from 2019/20 being approved, but the council confirmed this week that auditors Grant Thornton were now content with the accounts and were “in the process” of signing them off.

The auditors have made recommendations about the way such matters are handled and these had been implemented.

A spokesperson from Plymouth City Council added: “We have always been transparent about the transaction and it has been discussed at various council meetings, including the audit and governance committee.

“We knew that the transaction was novel in local government, but we were doing our best to think outside the box to ensure we didn’t need to make cuts to local services as our funding [from central government] continues to reduce. ”

Former council leader Cllr Richard Bingley (Con, Southway) said a formal independent investigation was needed to “get to grips” with what had happened.
 

Since privatisation in 1989, water bills across Britain have increased 360%, more than twice the rate of inflation (in Scotland, water is government-owned, and bills are lower). At these rates, you would think that our water system would be state of the art.

Adam Almeida Adam, a senior data analyst at the thinktank Common Wealth www.theguardian.com

The question mark over the future of Britain’s largest water supplier, Thames Water, has put its 16 million customers across London and south-east England – myself included – in an uncertain position. While water will still keep coming out of our taps, the price of these financial woes will probably be borne by customers and taxpayers. Meanwhile, Thames Water’s shareholders have spent the last three decades benefiting from the company’s massive financial gains. If ever we needed an example of the risks of selling essential infrastructure to investment firms, this is it.

Auditors warned in late 2023 that the debt-laden company could run out of money by April if shareholders did not inject it with much-needed cash. Now investors are saying they won’t provide Thames Water with £500m of emergency funding, leading to speculation that the company will be temporarily renationalised.

Since privatisation in 1989, water bills across Britain have increased 360%, more than twice the rate of inflation (in Scotland, water is government-owned, and bills are lower). At these rates, you would think that our water system would be state of the art. Instead, news broke this week that Thames Water was responsible for almost 17,000 occasions of dumping raw sewage in 2023 because of poor overflow systems that have had insufficient infrastructural investment.

In Margaret Thatcher’s imagination, selling off this public asset was meant to bring about shareholder democracy, but it has instead resulted in a major wealth transfer to Thames Water’s nine shareholders – institutional investors that are mostly based overseas in places such as Abu Dhabi, Beijing and Brisbane. The result is a company buckling under the weight of unserviceable debt, which over the years had not had sufficient investment, and had value extracted in the form of dividends. For their part, the shareholders released a statement criticising the water regulator, Ofwat, for the current crisis, saying it had “not been prepared to provide the necessary regulatory support for a business plan which ultimately addresses the issues that Thames Water faces”.

The largest shareholder – owning 31% – is the Ontario Municipal Employees Retirement System (Omers), a Canada-based public pension fund. Funnily enough, Omers happens to be the pension plan covering my grandmother, who collects a widow’s pension left behind by my grandfather, José. As a construction worker employed by the city of Toronto, José contributed to his pension using wages earned by paving the city’s roads in the summer and clearing the snow in the winter.

This is a bizarre arrangement, in which I (and millions of others) pay escalating prices for drinking water so that my grandmother in Canada and thousands of other pensioners can live out their golden years. Yet this model of ownership is becoming increasingly common as Britain’s essential infrastructure is bought by institutional investors with portfolios worth hundreds of billions of dollars. These firms typically manage money on behalf of their clients, which include pension funds, university endowments and insurance companies.

As a result of this system, public infrastructure changes hands in quick succession as investors turn a profit and leave companies in worsening financial states with each exchange. This has had grim consequences for people who rely on these essential services in their daily lives. During the pandemic, for instance, care homes loaded with high levels of debt (a staple business practice of institutional investors) saw death rates twice as high, according to one study that linked the rates to cost-cutting practices such as reduced staffing and limited supplies of personal protective equipment. The morbid effects of institutional investor ownership are also experienced by workers, as seen recently with the Body Shop’s employees facing probable layoffs while under the management of a private equity firm. Water systems, care homes and chain stores are all transformed into assets to be squeezed of their value.

Even the supposed beneficiaries of this system, such as my grandmother, enjoy quite muted gains from this ownership arrangement. The average Omers pensioner receives 28,040 Canadian dollars (£16,348) a year, not nearly enough to afford the cost of a bed in a long-term care home – another asset increasingly acquired by investment funds. Care for my grandmother’s complex health needs, resulting from a lifelong physical disability, would require her to pay $96,000 (£55,970) a year in a private facility. This means that my mother has become her full-time carer while she waits up to two and a half years for a bed to become available in a public nursing home.

By far the largest winners in this whole arrangement are the executives at the helm of investment firms that reap massive profits from these business practices. In 2022, the Omers CEO, Blake Hutcheson, made the equivalent of £3m. Hutcheson’s earnings pale in comparison to those of the CEO of Macquarie, an Australian asset manager that sold its share in Thames Water to Omers. The chief executive took home a whopping 30m Australian dollars (£15.5m) last year alone. These extraordinary figures are a severe indictment of a truly ludicrous system.

The solution, rather than tinkering with the ownership structure or again trying to regulate a privatised industry, is to ultimately end the exploitation of our public goods. England must follow the lead of the rest of the world – and bring water back into public ownership. Water systems act as a natural monopoly, meaning there is little to be gained in terms of “competitive innovation” through privatisation. Returning Thames Water to public ownership would mean that profits would no longer seep out through shareholder payouts, but would instead be reinvested back into the system by lowering water bills, upgrading crumbling infrastructure or funding future research and development. Public ownership of water companies could plug the leaks in the system, physical and financial.

A new building and five pay-to-use loos can be built at the Sideshore water sports and retail development on Exmouth seafront after a successful appeal.

Will Goddard www.exmouthjournal.co.uk

The approved plans are for a single-storey flexible office and community hub on a wedge of grass to the west, and five public toilets to the rear of Sideshore in an extension to the bin store. The new loos would open from dawn until dusk and use contactless payments.

East Devon District Council’s planning committee initially refused to give permission to a company called Queen’s Drive CIC for the project in February last year, but the Planning Inspectorate has overturned the decision.

The committee thought the proposed building would detract from the “character and appearance of the wider area” and would have been “detrimental to the openness and special landscape qualities of Exmouth seafront”.

But the inspectorate overruled the council.

An artist’s impression of the new building. (Image: Hilton Barnfield Architects)

It said the proposed structure would not be out of keeping with the character and appearance of this part of the seafront because of the nearby buildings, it would not interrupt views and it would occupy “a relatively small part of a grassed area and therefore would not compromise the openness of the site and its surroundings”.

The new building will have desk space for the Sideshore venue manager and “flexible meeting space” for the company and other community groups.

Planning documents say it will also “assist in facilitating events held on the adjacent Sideshore open space” and feature bird boxes, insect hotels, window plant boxes and trellises.

South West Water are holding a roadshow in Budleigh on Tuesday 2nd April. 

Book now, and let them know what you think!

[The Community Roadshow will take place from 12:30pm-16:30pm at the Venture Hall, Moor Lane, Budleigh Salterton, EX9 6QE, on Tuesday 2 April. Anyone looking to attend the event can pre-register here: Our roadshows | Get involved | South West Water]

In figures released today, South West Water more than tripled the number of Budleigh sewage discharges in 2023 vs 2022, dumping 546 hours of sewage into our brooks and beach area

Petercrwilliams fightingpoolution.com 

This time last year, South West Water trumpeted their ‘success’ in “reducing overflows by 50% and their duration by 75%”. We pointed out at that time that this statement was highly disingenuous, as any apparent ‘success’ was almost certainly caused by 2022 having 25% lower rainfall than average – and that they would need to take real action in order to bring sewage discharges down.

Well today, the results of that underinvestment were made clear.

Five of Budleigh’s eight sewage overflows were in full flow in 2023, with 187 incidents discharging 546 hours of sewage into our town streams and beach area. This represents a more than tripling of the number of events, and almost doubling of the discharge time, compared to 2022.

It sometimes seems that SWW focus more on spinning the news than tackling the underlying issues, so it will be interesting to see how they approach today’s shocking figures.

One item they’ve already trailed as a reason for the poor performance is the rainfall in 2023. They are talking about ‘exceptional’ rainfall, ‘which clearly they couldn’t plan for’ …. except that’s really not the case. The south west area rainfall in 2023 was not significantly different to the 2015-2022 pattern, and it was 2022 which was the outlier (approx 25% less rainfall compared to average years). As can be seen from the Met Office rainfall charts below, the South West had about 1,200mm rain in 2023, slightly less in 2021, and about 900mm in 2021.

So yes, 2023 was wetter than the previously very dry year, but that should not trigger a doubling of sewage into our local environment. It’s also worth noting that rainfall variation does not change the water companies legal obligations to achieve the Government-set discharge targets.

South West Water, and the Environment Agency, like to quote rainfall comparisons to the 30-year ‘Long Term Average’, and on that basis 2023 was a wetter year. The problem with that argument is that the UK is going through a sustained period of increasing rainfall. So justifying poor discharge performance on the basis of outdated averages just won’t cut it in future.

The largest single polluter remains the Lime Kiln Pumping Station, where 116 discharges dumped sewage for a total of 466 hours. That’s a discharge every three days on average. If South West Water want to make a major improvement in Budleigh’s water quality, they really must address the critical issues at Lime Kiln pumping station. As it’s built on a large car park, there can be no excuse for not having the space to significantly increase sewage holding capacity (so called storm tanks).

Lime Kiln actually has two sewage outlets. One goes out to Otter ledge, but the Emergency Overflow (which we know they did use in 2023) dumps raw sewage straight into the Kersbrook and from there directly into the sea. As both outfalls are covered by a single data point, we don’t know how much of that was dumped onto the shoreline, and how much was slightly further offshore. This lack of clarity really needs to change.

SWW’s pollution performance in Budleigh is fairly typical of their dire performance across the region. 2023 saw a shocking 1/2 million hours of sewage being discharged from SWW’s overflows, an increase of 88% on 2022.

Looking across the broader River Otter catchment area (which all flows out alongside Budleigh beach), there were more than a thousand pollution events in 2023, discharging over seven thousand hours of sewage into the river. Again, this was around 40% higher than in 2022.

This data highlights why we need SWW to take real action now, particularly to sort out the Lime Kiln sewage problems. No ‘spinning’, no excuses.

“Many of the overflow lasted days, according to the water company’s own data, while two were non-stop for a full week.”

South West Water is facing investigations into more than 100 sewage spills in a popular Devon tourist town following major failures in the system since last December.

David Parsley inews.co.uk 

The Environment Agency (EA) has told i that every spill and subsequent transportation of thousands of truckloads of sewage through the seaside town of Exmouth is being investigated.

After a pipe burst in the East Devon town on 11 December, local residents had to endure up to 240 trucks a day moving sewage to pumping stations, one of which was broken and allowed sewage to flow directly into the sea.

Since the first pipe burst, two more pipes have failed, leading to further sewage spills.

While preliminary data for the level of sewage spills is yet to be confirmed, initial figures suggest that South West Water has pumped sewage into the sea and the River Exe estuary for 1,600 hours since the first pipe burst occurred.

Internal South West Water data obtained by i shows that at the pumping stations in Exmouth and nearby Sandy Bay there have been 106 sewage overflows so far this calendar year. These figures do not include the overflows between the 11 and 31 December.

Many of the overflow lasted days, according to the water company’s own data, while two were non-stop for a full week.

Water companies are only permitted to discharge sewage into rivers or the sea if adverse weather conditions cause storm overflows. To do so in normal weather conditions is against the law.

A spokeswoman for the EA told i: “We take all pollution incidents seriously and at Exmouth we are investigating all discharges linked to the burst pipe and the subsequent tankering operation.”

Andy Tyermen, one of the founders of End Sewage Convoys And Poollution Exmouth (ESCAPE), said: “The EA has confirmed they are investigating spills associated with the four pipe bursts on the rising main that started 11 December last year.

“Escape understands this will include the use of tankers to transfer sewage to Maer Road pumping station, which was already overflowing spilling sewage into the sea.

“As SWW does not provide a history of spills we estimate in Exmouth there have been 1,600 hours of overflows since the problems began.”

In January, South West Water transported millions of litres of sewage to what the EA called a “failed pumping station” just 200 metres from Exmouth’s sandy beach. The move was described by a local campaign group as “wilful pollution” by the company.

In February, the Government announced a ban on water company bosses receiving bonuses if a company has committed serious criminal breaches.

The ban will apply to all executive board members and chief executives and is set to come into effect later this year.

In 2023 the boss of Pennon Group, which owns South West Water, gave up £440,000 in bonuses in the wake of record water quality fines for the company.

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 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.

The EA also has new powers to impose uncapped civil penalties and next year (2024-25) it is expected to quadruple inspections of water company assets to 4,000 a year, and then to more than 10,000 from April 2025.

This will include an increase in unannounced inspections, strengthening oversight of water companies and providing greater assurance alongside operator self-monitoring.

The EA spokeswoman added: “We continue to hold polluters to account and since 2015, we have secured over £150m in fines through prosecutions.”

A spokeswoman for South West Water declined to confirm the number of sewage spills since mid-December, adding that the company does not “comment on live regulatory investigations”.

Apologies – a little later than usual this week

• Remodelling chimney and dairy rooms, including new fenestration Hedgend Barton Monkton Devon EX14 9NPRef. No: 24/0595/FUL | Validated: Fri 15 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• The change of use from Class B2 / B8 Industrial to E (d) Indoor Sport, Recreation and Fitness for use as a Paddle Tennis Centre. Including internal alterations, a new café/servery area, and minor external changes to windows Unit A B Mushroom Road Hill Barton Business Park Clyst St Mary Exeter EX5 1SBRef. No: 24/0588/FUL | Validated: Fri 15 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Turkey Oak – crown reduction by 33%. The density of the radial spread is thinned by reducing branch lengths of up to 3m. Maximum diameter of cut 75mm. 61 Evergreen Close Exmouth Devon EX8 4RRRef. No: 24/0590/TRE | Validated: Fri 15 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• T1, Sycamore – dismantle and fell. Reason – lifting paving slabs causing a trip hazard. Street Record Woodlands Budleigh Salterton Devon EX9 6ATRef. No: 24/0589/TRE | Validated: Fri 15 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Certificate of existing lawful use under General Industry (Class B2) for commercial use (workshop) Roebuck Farm Weston Honiton EX14 3PBRef. No: 24/0579/CPE | Validated: Fri 15 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Discharge of condition for 16/3021/MFUL: Condition 6 (BREEAM) Alexander House Hawkins Road Exeter Devon EX1 3UWRef. No: 24/0582/DOC | Validated: Fri 15 Mar 2024 | Status: Unknown
• Lawful development certificate for an extension to the existing side garage and the insertion of sliding doors to the rear elevation.12 Buckingham Close Exmouth Devon EX8 2JBRef. No: 24/0584/CPL | Validated: Fri 15 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Discharge of condition for 23/1882/FUL: Condition 3 (ecological mitigation and enhancement measures) Clapp Mill Farm Broadclyst Exeter EX5 3DNRef. No: 24/0585/DOC | Validated: Fri 15 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of single garage Honeysuckle Cottage Harcombe Devon DT7 3RNRef. No: 24/0574/FUL | Validated: Thu 14 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Roofing over existing yard area phase 1. Buckeshayes Farm Upottery Honiton EX14 9RQRef. No: 24/0568/FUL | Validated: Thu 14 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Roofing over yard area phase 2 Buckeshayes Farm Upottery Honiton EX14 9RQRef. No: 24/0569/FUL | Validated: Thu 14 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Roofing open yard area phase 3 Buckeshayes Farm Upottery Devon EX14 9RQRef. No: 24/0570/FUL | Validated: Thu 14 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Roofing yard area phase 4 Buckeshayes Farm Upottery Devon EX14 9RQRef. No: 24/0571/FUL | Validated: Thu 14 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Roofing over existing livestock handling yard area phase 1 Riggles Farm Cottage Luppitt Devon EX14 4SPRef. No: 24/0572/FUL | Validated: Thu 14 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Roofing over livestock handling yard phase 2 Riggles Farm Cottage Luppitt Devon EX14 4SPRef. No: 24/0573/FUL | Validated: Thu 14 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Removal of a leylandii hedge in the north western corner of the garden. Relace with a small tree. 19 Kingsholme Colyford Devon EX24 6RJRef. No: 24/0578/TCA | Validated: Thu 14 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Installation of 2 no. rooflights to loft on side elevation of bungalow 58 Burnards Field Road Colyton Devon EX24 6PFRef. No: 24/0560/FUL | Validated: Wed 13 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Discharge of condition for 23/1767/FUL: Condition 4 (timber details) Little Pacehayne Shute Axminster EX13 7QERef. No: 24/0559/DOC | Validated: Wed 13 Mar 2024 | Status: Unknown
• Single storey rear extension, and side facing new entrance door & window 7 Tyrrell Mead Sidmouth Devon EX10 9TWRef. No: 24/0558/FUL | Validated: Wed 13 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Discharge of condition for 23/2162/FUL: Condition 4 (tree protection), Condition 5 (hard surfaces construction method) and Condition 6 (landscaping) Hayes Drift Sidmouth Road Aylesbeare Exeter EX5 2JJRef. No: 24/0557/DOC | Validated: Wed 13 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Erection of a dwelling, to include a detached single garage, creation of a driveway and associated soft and hard landscaping. Land To West Of Marles Close AwliscombeRef. No: 24/0556/FUL | Validated: Wed 13 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Discharge of condition for 18/1347/FUL: Condition 4 (Design, appearance and external finish of doors and treatment of arch) Former Royal Mail Sorting Office 2 Hind Street Ottery St Mary EX11 1BWRef. No: 24/0555/DOC | Validated: Wed 13 Mar 2024 | Status: Unknown
• Discharge of condition for 23/1582/FUL: Part B of Condition 4 (surface material) A La Ronde Summer Lane Exmouth EX8 5BDRef. No: 24/0554/DOC | Validated: Wed 13 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Discharge of condition for 21/0643/FUL: Condition 3 (tree protection) Rhode Hill Lodge Rhode Lane Uplyme Lyme Regis DT7 3TYRef. No: 24/0548/DOC | Validated: Tue 12 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Proposed replacement of roof tiles and dormers to stop roof leaking. 7 Bicton Street Exmouth EX8 2RURef. No: 24/0551/FUL | Validated: Tue 12 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Discharge of Condition for 23/0513/FUL: Conditions 4 (materials) & Condition 5 (landscaping) Highfields Northcott Farm Blackborough Cullompton Devon EX15 2JERef. No: 24/0541/DOC | Validated: Fri 15 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Proposed replacement of roof tiles and dormers to stop roof leaking. 7 Bicton Street Exmouth EX8 2RURef. No: 24/0552/LBC | Validated: Tue 12 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Discharge of condition for 22/2505/LBC: Condition 3 (materials), Condition 4 (rainwater goods) and Condition 5 (doors/windows/rooflights) Dince Hill House 30 Grove Road Whimple Exeter EX5 2TPRef. No: 24/0553/DOC | Validated: Tue 12 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Discharge of condition for 22/2504/FUL: Condition 3 (materials), Condition 4 (rainwater goods) and Condition 5 (tree protection) Dince Hill House 30 Grove Road Whimple Exeter EX5 2TPRef. No: 24/0540/DOC | Validated: Tue 12 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Single-storey rear extension. 16 Granary Lane Budleigh Salterton EX9 6JDRef. No: 24/0515/FUL | Validated: Mon 11 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Retrospective application for construction of raised decking, and proposed erection of garage and workshop Sunningdale Buckerell Devon EX14 3ERRef. No: 24/0534/FUL | Validated: Fri 15 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Change of use of agricultural land to residential garden Land Adjacent To Grange Farm Newton Poppleford EX10 0BYRef. No: 24/0525/COU | Validated: Mon 11 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Reroofing of existing conservatory, new windows and alterations to existing windows, new rooflights, repointing, reroofing of main building, and other repairs and alteration works. Forge Cottage St Andrews Road Cowley Upton Pyne EX5 5ELRef. No: 24/0529/FUL | Validated: Mon 11 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Discharge of condition for 23/0222/LBC: Condition 3 (materials), Condition 4 (materials) and Condition 5 (damage during works) Upper Cottage Rocombe Devon DT7 3RRRef. No: 24/0535/DOC | Validated: Thu 14 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Reroofing of existing conservatory, new windows and alterations to existing windows, new rooflights, repointing, reroofing of main building, and other repairs and alteration works. Forge Cottage St Andrews Road Cowley EX5 5ELRef. No: 24/0530/LBC | Validated: Mon 11 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• General agricultural building for storage of machinery and fodder, steel portal frame building with Yorkshire boarding and concrete panels. Mortice Farm Salcombe Regis Sidmouth EX10 0JHRef. No: 24/0531/AGR | Validated: Mon 11 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Discharge of condition for 21/2191/FUL : Condition 3 (materials) 16 Green Close Exmouth EX8 3QDRef. No: 24/0513/DOC | Validated: Mon 11 Mar 2024 | Status: Unknown
• Single storey rear extension to replace existing conservatory, and extended rear patio 54 Withycombe Village Road Exmouth Devon EX8 3ABRef. No: 24/0509/FUL | Validated: Fri 15 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Demolition of existing front porch and construction of single storey front extension. Beaches Chapel Road Lympstone Devon EX8 5ERRef. No: 24/0495/FUL | Validated: Tue 12 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Two storey front extension; single storey side extension with pitched roof and porch to front of Home Cottage, Burridge, Axminster EX13 7DF (Resubmission of 21/1211/FUL) Home Cottage Burridge Axminster EX13 7DFRef. No: 24/0493/FUL | Validated: Mon 11 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Construction of single storey front and side extensions 188 Hulham Road Exmouth Devon EX8 4RBRef. No: 24/0483/FUL | Validated: Tue 12 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Change of use of redundant activities building to a single dwelling (Use Class C3) Building At Upcott Farm BroadhemburyRef. No: 24/0473/FUL | Validated: Wed 13 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Extension to vehicle repair and MOT workshop Unit 4 Alexandria Industrial Estate Sidmouth EX10 9HLRef. No: 24/0462/FUL | Validated: Mon 11 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Prior approval (class Q) for a change of use of agricultural buildings to 5 no. dwellinghouses (use class C3) and for building operations reasonably necessary for conversion Roebuck Farm Weston EX14 3PBRef. No: 24/0465/PDQ | Validated: Wed 13 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Certificate of existing lawfulness for the construction of a dwelling and detached garage. Stadway Heights Stadway Meadow Sidmouth EX10 8TBRef. No: 24/0469/CPE | Validated: Tue 12 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Proposal to replace two single-storey roof areas, fully remove two Yew trees, install solar PV panels to the rear south elevation roof, and install twin air source heat pumps Brookfield House South Square Colyton EX24 6NHRef. No: 24/0441/FUL | Validated: Mon 11 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Discharge of conditions for 20/1086/FUL: Condition 3 (Landscaping), Condition 5 (Tree Protection details) and Condition 8 (Written Scheme of Investigation). Talewater Mill Talewater Talaton Devon EX5 2RSRef. No: 24/0424/DOC | Validated: Thu 14 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Removal of residential caravan and conversion of building to dwelling. Bridgend Harpford Devon EX10 0NGRef. No: 24/0371/FUL | Validated: Mon 11 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• 1 mono pitch shed adjacent to existing shed of dry storage of agricultural machinery. Hillcrest Tower Cross Honiton EX14 9TNRef. No: 24/0310/FUL | Validated: Thu 14 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Vehicular access to land between Border Cottage and Deanswood Land Adjacent Dean Wood Blackpool Corner Axminster EX13 5UJRef. No: 24/0318/FUL | Validated: Wed 13 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Conversion of barn to annexe works to include: 1no. 3 light bi-fold doors on south elevation; 2no. rooflights on east elevation; 1no. rooflight on west elevation; replace 1no. window on east elevation; replace 1no. window on south elevation; overhaul rainwater goods; internal staircase; new internal bi-fold doors into remainder of barn and new partitions and doors at first floor and new vent on west elevation; relocation of steps to decked area Barn East Of Hooperhayne Colyton EX24 6SHRef. No: 24/0271/LBC | Validated: Thu 14 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Proposed new roof dormer to East (front) elevation, proposed new side facing first floor window, and new roof-light on North elevation, new side facing roof-light on south elevation (roof). Greenway Cotmaton Road Sidmouth EX10 8SWRef. No: 24/0256/FUL | Validated: Thu 14 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Retention of works carried out after the expiry of 19/1515/LBC including the replacement of an internal concrete floor slab and associated underpinning of a modern partition wall, removal of stairs and the replacement of 2no. modern under sized floor support beams with steel beams Barn East Of Hooperhayne Colyton EX24 6SHRef. No: 24/0199/LBC | Validated: Wed 13 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Demolition of an existing agricultural building and erection of 1 no. detached dwelling and associated external works Pinneywood Farm Lodge Lane Axminster EX13 5RTRef. No: 24/0200/FUL | Validated: Tue 12 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision
• Demolition of outbuildings, replacement garage, 2 storey rear extension and new access. Lower Lodge Offwell Honiton EX14 9SARef. No: 24/0188/FUL | Validated: Thu 14 Mar 2024 | Status: Awaiting decision