South Hampshire councils have called on Environment Secretary Thérèse Coffey to reinstate a review of water company permits in the region.
More than half of Southern Water’s treatment works in South Hampshire have no limit enforced on the amount of nitrogen and phosphate they can release into rivers or the sea.
The Environment Agency had committed to reviewing this situation but has now reneged on the promise in favour of a tabled amendment to the Levelling Up and Regeneration Bill that may not even pass the committee stage.
The Partnership for South Hampshire (PfSH), which brings local councils and other partners together with a focus on sustainable growth in the area, has written to the Environment Secretary calling for the review to be reinstated with concerns the situation will prevent housing development the region requires.
Councillor Seán Woodward, chairman of PfSH, has said:
“Natural England has established an issue with high nitrates in the Solent area, councils across the region are working hard to find ways to bring forward important developments while respecting this but at the same time, more than half the waterworks in our area have no limit on the amount of nitrogen they can discharge.
“It seems ridiculous that developers are being held to a high standard for nutrients while Southern Water can effectively do what they want. We want Thérèse Coffey to ensure the Environment Agency honours its commitment to review the permits in place and hope this leads to a situation where everyone is working together to protect our natural environment while bringing forward projects to benefit our residents and local economy.”
A full copy of the letter, which has been cardon copied to Isle of Wight MP Bob Seely, can be found at https://www.push.gov.uk/wp-content/uploads/2022/11/WOODWARD-TO-COFFEY-16.11.22-v1.0.pdf.
any letter to coffey is a waste of time and effort as she has less brains than a rocking horse.
No more building until you sort the sewage situation properly
Absolutely, A great deal of Southern Water’s problems are the major housing developments, a long time ago Southern Water advised the Council that the drainage and sewage systems could not accommodate any further additions but, unfortunately, they are bound by law to make the connections to the system if requested.
And the developers developing these building sites should pay for Southern Waters costs of expanding the sewerage system to cope with their developments
if “the [current] situation will prevent housing development”,…
although bad for the environment, isn’t that a good thing for the IOW ?
after all, I’m sure the vast majority of the general public don’t want housing development here
surly that Bob Sealy bloke should be sorting this stuff out?
hes a waste of space
On a slightly different issue, heard Southern Water’s advert on local radio yesterday saying we need to save water to prevent a shortage next summer. Isn’t that the water company’s job, to save the water for when we need it? When we’ve had, it seems like, nothing but rain and floods for the past 2 or 3 months it’s a bit galling to hear them tell us that we need to save water because there might be a shortage.
Some of these organisations seem so incompetent that they can’t do the very thing they are employed to do.