North Cornwall MP calls on Prime Minister for help against South West Water
Several Christmas swims have been cancelled due to sewage spills
The MP for North Cornwall has asked Prime Minister Keir Starmer for support in holding South West Water to account.
Sewage spills have repeatedly prevented people from swimming at Devon and Cornwall's beaches.
Speaking during the Prime Minister’s Questions earlier this week, Ben Maguire stressed that the issue had been ongoing for over three decades.
He said: “In 1988, over 20,000 North Cornwall constituents were poisoned by the South West Water authority and in a recent BBC documentary strong suggestions were made of a cover-up by the Thatcher Government.
“None of those victims have ever been properly compensated.
“And today, South West Water poisons my constituents with their impunity with their constant sewage dumping.
“Christmas swims across Cornwall have been cancelled again while constituents, like William Howells in Padstowe, have been hospitalised.”
Prime Minister Keir Starmer has promised to get Water Minister Emma Hardy to meet with Ben Maguire and his constituents.
“He and the public are right to be furious that companies are still polluting our seas, lakes and rivers”, he added.
“We have taken action by banning bonuses for bosses in six polluting companies, changing the law so that those who hide sewage spills can be locked up, and issuing almost £30 million in fines to clean up waterways.
“We are clearing up the mess that the party over there left, like everything else.”
South West Water has pledged to invest £760m into tackling sewage spills in Devon and Cornwall over the next five years.
The stage of the project is set to be completed in March and promises “immediate improvement” thanks to two massive tanks which can each hold 2.2m litres of water as well as improved drainage.
Further locations for improvements include Sidmouth and Falmouth where works have already started and are due to be finished ahead of Sidmouth’s International Folk Festival in mid-summer.
“As we go through the programme, which is a five-year programme, we will see sort of step change improvements literally side by side as we roll out the Turning The Tide programme across the region”, explained Graham Murphy, Chief Engineering Officer at South West Water.
“Obviously, the whole purpose of storm overflows is to avoid flooding of residential properties and so the only solution is to actually deal with this head-on through significant capital investment and this takes ambition, time and perseverance.
“And so, it's a five-year programme and as we move around the coastline we'll see step change side by side.”