BCP Council Chief Environment Officer Cllr Mark Anderson Invited To Provide Water Quality Update As Southern Water Launches Task Force To Reduce Storm Overflows

The head of the environment of the BCP Council is called upon to report to the advisers on the discharge of wastewater into the sea from local beaches.

The board’s oversight and review committee would also like to hear from the water companies and the environment agency, writes Trevor Bevins of the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

Urging Tory cabinet member Cllr Mark Anderson to take stock, his colleague Tory Cllr David Kelsey, chairman of the planning committee, said the issue needed to be addressed as soon as possible.

He said: “We rely so much on tourism for the progress of this agglomeration. It’s basically the most important business function we have in the region.

“We need to look at this urgently. We need to have the questions answered and Cllr Anderson in his role in the environment needs to pull her finger and come and give us a very full and detailed report on this.”

Liberal Democrat Cllr Vikki Slade said the problem was with a lack of investment which had led to pollution.

She said the questions she and other advisers had asked about Poole Harbor were slowly progressing, adding: “We’re not happy with what we’re getting.

“It could reassure residents and visitors. “

Meanwhile, a task force to reduce thunderstorm overflows by 80% by 2030 has been launched by Southern Water following public outcry over the amount of sewage being released into waterways. .

The company announced that the initiative is part of its zero tolerance approach to pollution and aims to improve water quality in the region. The task force news comes shortly after Southern Water was fined a record £ 90million for polluting sites – including the Beaulieu River – in what the judge called “shocking disregard and general for the environment ”.

Southern Water’s recently announced £ 1.5bn investment program aims to reduce all pollution incidents by 80% by 2025.

Going forward, Southern Water says it will focus on nature-based solutions to heavy rainfall, including ponds, wetlands, sumps and rain gardens. He is also working on the separation of stormwater from the sewer system.

Southern Water claims that “heavily regulated sewage discharge” during heavy downpours is “an integral part of the Victorian-era sewage system” and protects people’s homes. But the company admits that its customers have “made it clear” that this is “no longer acceptable”.

Ian McAulay, CEO of Southern Water, said: “There is a growing call to take action to reduce the frequency and impact of storm surges. It is a task of scale and complexity and requires multisectoral collaboration and a common policy for this to happen, which of course seems difficult today. “