Devon MPs blast ‘scandal’ of sewage spills

Devon MPs have spoken out in the House of Commons after official figures revealed tens of thousands of hours of sewage spills into local bathing waters.

Three local Liberal Democrat MPs spoke in support of a motion by the party’s environment spokesman Tim Farron which described the dumping of raw sewage into waterways as a ‘persistent scandal’,
South Devon MP Caroline Voaden told the house: “In South Devon last year we had an astonishing 49,904 hours of sewage leaks, or 5.69 years worth of sewage pouring into the glorious Dart and Avon and into the sea around South Devon.
“Meanwhile, my constituents write to me about bills that have gone up by as much as 50 per cent. It is an outrage that the privatised water companies are able to carry on increasing bills, increasing dividends to shareholders and paying multi-million-pound salaries to CEOs while this obscenity of sewage pouring into our rivers, seas and lakes continues.”
Torbay MP Steve Darling also highlighted the ‘outrageous’ issue of sewage dumping.
He said: “Over Easter in Torbay, we had five sewage spills according to the Surfers Against Sewage app.
“It is extremely disappointing to say the least that, rather than colleagues just getting their cossie and towel to go swimming at their favourite swimming spot, they must now also check the sewage leak app. It is outrageous.”
And Newton Abbot MP Martin Wrigley said it was time water was tested throughout the year, and not just during the holiday season.
In response, parliamentary under-secretary of state for the environment Emma Hardy said the government had been left with the result of years of under-investment.
She went on: “The Conservatives left us with crumbling water infrastructure and a broken water system. Instead of fixing our water system, they let water companies use customers’ money to pay out unjustified bonuses to their polluting bosses and shareholders. We will never let that happen.”
Mr Farron’s motion, which condemned the previous Conservative government for ‘letting water company bosses get away with the scandal while paying themselves millions of pounds in bonuses’, was defeated by 303 votes to 77.
It also called on the government to take urgent action by introducing Blue Flag status for rivers and chalk streams to give them greater protection.