Agenda item

Motion 1:  Sewage & South West Water

Motion Proposed:  Cllr Todd Olive

Motion Seconded:  Cllr Geoff Jung

Motion signed:  Cllrs Olly Davey, Nick Hookway, Paul Arnott, Richard Jefferies, Paula Fernley, Matt Hall, Marianne Rixson, Yehudi Levine, Anne Hall, Charlotte Fitzgerald, Sarah Jackson, Chris Burhop and John Heath

Motion received: 1 February 2024

 

East Devon District Council,

            Noting widespread concern among East Devon residents regarding the state of local and national sewage infrastructure,

Recognising with grave concern significant disruption to the functioning of Exmouth’s sewage network due to a series of major pipe failures in December 2023, and noting extensive disruption to residents resulting from tanker movements and repair works as a result,

Alarmed at the failure of South West Water to advise East Devon District Council of sewage overflows in Exmouth over the same period, leading to reports of people and pets falling ill from exposure to untreated human waste during sea swimming,

            Stressing that these issues affect all East Devon residents, whether coastal or inland, and noting that in 2022, the last year for which full data is available:

       I.          all five of South West Water’s worst-performing East Devon consented overflow outlets by hours of spill, and four of the five worst-performing outlets by number of individual spills, were located inland,

     II.          sewage overflows from South West Water outlets in East Devon ran for over 20,000 hours, with over two-and-a-half thousand individual spills,

    III.          four South West Water outlets in East Devon spilled for over a thousand hours each, with the worst-performing outlet spilling for 1966 hours, or nearly a quarter of year,

   IV.          five South West Water outlets in East Devon spilled over a hundred times, with the worst-performing outlet spilling on more than two in every three days on average, and

     V.          twenty-six of thirty East Devon District Council wards experienced a spill, meaning over 82% of East Devon’s population lived in a ward affected by untreated sewage overflows,

Noting with alarm that constraints and actions identified in a 2010 Water Cycle Study regarding sewage infrastructure capacities have not been actioned, including:

       I.          The construction of a new Wastewater Treatment Works to serve the new community at Cranbrook,

     II.          Improvements to existing treatment works at Maer Lane and elsewhere to facilitate new development and population increases in view of contemporary capacity limits, and

    III.          Improvements to existing treatment works at Otterton and Sidmouth to improve river water quality,

Emphasising the importance of East Devon’s coasts and rivers to our area’s outstanding natural environment, and the intrinsic aesthetic, cultural, and existence value of this to our residents, and considering the substantial contribution that these natural assets make to our local economy via tourism, as recognised by our 2022 Tourism and Cultural Strategies,

Expressing concern that a failure to properly control sewage overflows into rivers and associated phosphate pollution is actively undermining efforts by East Devon District Council and others to promote ecological recovery, biodiversity, and nature restoration, and indeed is counter-productive for South West Water’s own efforts to improve the environmental quality of river catchments,

            Mindful of the large number of comments and concerns raised by residents in the 2022-23 Regulation 18 consultation on the emerging East Devon Local Plan regarding the capacity of local sewage infrastructure,

            Recalling concern expressed by Members at South West Water’s perceived failure to properly and appropriately respond to consultations on planning applications for new development in areas known to experience frequent sewage overflows,

            Concerned at the lack of engagement by South West Water with East Devon District Council officers and the Coast Country & Environment Portfolio Team, including through a failure to follow-up on actions agreed between senior South West Water executives and the Portfolio Team at the November 2023 Beachwise Forum and a failure to include the District Council in consultations with relevant Town and Parish Councils,

Noting that central government funding for the Environment Agency, the relevant regulatory authority, had been cut by over half in real terms between 2009/10 and 2021/22, and

            Conscious of the need for East Devon District Council to address these issues on account of its responsibilities to the environment, environmental health, and as the Local Planning Authority, while noting with frustration that many legal powers of investigation and enforcement are reserved to central government and under-funded, under-staffed statutory regulators:

1.     Declares that it has no confidence in South West Water’s existing systems and processes for proactively managing and investing in East Devon’s sewage infrastructure;

2.     Requests that the Leader write publicly to the Chief Executive of South West Water to invite the company to:

a.     commit to involving the District Council in discussions with Town and Parish Councils regarding ongoing and upcoming works on South West Water infrastructure,

b.     jointly convene a regular liaison group bringing together senior staff from South West Water and East Devon District Council, together with relevant East Devon Cabinet members, to proactively monitor and respond to ongoing developments and issues,

c.      proactively and transparently engage with East Devon District Council’s Planning Policy team and processes on an ongoing basis to ensure that the emerging Local Plan can deliver development without exacerbating existing issues with storm overflows and capacity constraints, and in tandem with network improvements,

d.     more broadly, to commit to working with East Devon District Council’s planning officers to help manage development pressures on infrastructure and respond to community concerns, to responding to requests for consultation and providing relevant data, to accepting invitations to Planning Committee meetings to discuss applications whenever possible, and taking other relevant steps, and

e.     commit to actively engaging with East Devon District Council’s Beach Safety Officer and Environmental Health team to proactively advise of overflow discharges in the interest of public safety;

3.     Further requests that the Leader copy correspondence to our local MPs to encourage them to support our efforts to engage South West Water, and to lobby government to:

a.     revisit weak legislation allowing water companies until 2038 to reduce phosphate pollution in rivers from sewage overflows by only 80%, with a view to requiring more immediate action in the short- and mid-term to reduce storm overflows and ameliorate capacity issues,

b.     resist a request by South West Water to raise bills by over 20% by 2030, before inflationary increases, until demonstrable action on sewage spills has been taken to reduce spills towards South West Water’s own 2025 targets, and

c.      restore Environment Agency funding to 2009/10 real-terms levels, and properly fund other environmental regulators, to ensure that polluting activities are fully and robustly monitored, investigated, and where necessary enforcement action taken;

4.     Resolves that Strategic Planning Committee evaluate what planning policy measures, including spatially and/or temporally limited moratoria on development, are required to respond to any sewage capacity issues that might be identified by the upcoming Water Cycle Study at the earliest possible opportunity following its receipt;

5.     Further resolves that the results of the Water Cycle Study and any resulting measures recommended by Strategic Planning Committee be actively publicised to residents and brought to the attention of South West Water as the body responsible, including through the proposed liaison group if and when it is implemented; and

6.     Instructs that Strategic Planning Committee, or another committee if this is considered more appropriate by officers, considers a standing item to annually review progress on any recommendations made by the Water Cycle Study.

 

The Chair of Council invited Cllr Todd Olive (proposer) to speak to the motion on notice. 

 

Cllr Olive confirmed that the motion on notice contained some factual inaccuracies and these had been amended.  In respect of 3b in the motion on notice a revision to the wording had been made.  A full extract of the motion on notice is attached as an appendix to these minutes. 

 

The seconder of the motion on notice, Cllr Jung  was invited to speak and called on South West Water (SWW) to seek a resolution to the ongoing issues, particularly due to the impact on Exmouth.

 

Cllr Paul Arnott proposed that a recorded vote should be conducted and this was seconded by Cllr Joe Whibley.  Having duly been moved and seconded Council RESOLVED:  To conduct a recorded vote on the Motion on Notice.

 

The Council discussed the motion on notice and the following points were raised:

·        substantial failings of SWW management of the sewage network

·        environmental vandalism including sewage and large tanker movements

·        significant number of burst pipes and hydraulic overload on the sewage system

·        lack of government funding to support adequate investment in infrastructure

·        impact on beach and sea users and subsequent impacts on tourism income

·        lack of information and transparency from SWW on the level of sewage being discharged into the local waterways and the sea

·        role of Strategic Planning in considering and commenting on the Water Cycle report

·        lobbying of central government to ensure that the discharges no longer happen

·        SWW must be accountable for the sewage network and the impacts arising from the discharges

 

Cllr Peter Faithfull proposed an amendment to the motion on notice seeking to request SWW to submit a technical presentation of the sewage system, support by technical officers from SWW to have a meaningful discussion at a technical level of their sewage system within 3 months of the date of this Council meeting.

 

The amendment was not seconded and fell away. 

 

Cllr Sophie Richards left the meeting at 6.36pm.

 

Cllr Alasdair Bruce proposed an amendment to the motion that East Devon District Council will not consider any major planning application for new residential development without a report from SWW confirming that they have capacity in their system to deal with new development.

 

The amendment was seconded by Cllr Dan Wilson.

 

It was pointed out that as SWW were not a statutory consultee it would not be possible to make this request and subsequently the amendment was withdrawn.

 

Cllr Mike Goodman proposed an amendment to refer the motion on notice to the Scrutiny Committee to review the contents of the motion and related actions with a full report coming back to Council for consideration.

 

The amendment was seconded by Cllr Colin Brown. 

 

A number of members did not support that the motion on notice should be referred to Scrutiny Committee and if the motion was supported by Council it would ensure sufficient weight was given to the requests set out in the motion.

 

The amendment having been moved and seconded was put to the vote and lost by a majority show of hands.

 

Motion put to the vote and lost by a majority show of hands

 

Cllr Barlow proposed an amendment that a politically balanced group should be set up to ensure the points set out in the more were delivered on.  In response Cllr Olive advised that the Scrutiny Committee had already agreed to set up a Task and Finish Forum and there was no need for a further group to be formed.  Cllr Barlow withdrew the amendment.

 

Cllr Jess Bailey moved an amendment to the motion, requesting that the Leader of Council writes to request that the Chief Executive of South West Water forgoes any bonuses until there has been significant improvement in SWW’s environmental metrics as published by the Environment Agency and calling on SWW to urgently publish details of sewage discharge into rivers and waterways.

 

The amendment was seconded by Cllr Tony McCollum.

 

It was confirmed that this was not within the control of this Council to propose and after consideration the amendment was withdrawn.

 

Cllr John Loudoun moved that the Question be put, the Chair of Council advised that the item had not been sufficiently discussed and invited further comments to be made.

 

The Chair confirmed that the item had not been sufficiently discussed and the debate on the motion continued.

 

In summing up Cllr Todd Olive called on members to support the motion in sending a strong message to SWW to engage and work with the Council and the local community to improve the sewage system in the district.

 

Having duly been moved and seconded a recorded vote was taken and Council RESOLVED:

That conscious of the need for East Devon District Council to address these issues on account of its responsibilities to the environment, environmental health, and as the Local Planning Authority, while noting with frustration that many legal powers of investigation and enforcement are reserved to central government and under-funded, under-staffed statutory regulators:

1.     Declares that it has no confidence in South West Water’s existing systems and processes for proactively managing and investing in East Devon’s sewage infrastructure;

2.     Requests that the Leader write publicly to the Chief Executive of South West Water to invite the company to:

a.     commit to involving the District Council in discussions with Town and Parish Councils regarding ongoing and upcoming works on South West Water infrastructure,

b.     jointly convene a regular liaison group bringing together senior staff from South West Water and East Devon District Council, together with relevant East Devon Cabinet members, to proactively monitor and respond to ongoing developments and issues,

c.      proactively and transparently engage with East Devon District Council’s Planning Policy team and processes on an ongoing basis to ensure that the emerging Local Plan can deliver development without exacerbating existing issues with storm overflows and capacity constraints, and in tandem with network improvements,

d.     more broadly, to commit to working with East Devon District Council’s planning officers to help manage development pressures on infrastructure and respond to community concerns, to responding to requests for consultation and providing relevant data, to accepting invitations to Planning Committee meetings to discuss applications whenever possible, and taking other relevant steps, and

e.     commit to actively engaging with East Devon District Council’s Beach Safety Officer and Environmental Health team to proactively advise of overflow discharges in the interest of public safety;

3.     Further requests that the Leader copy correspondence to our local MPs to encourage them to support our efforts to engage South West Water, and to lobby government to:

a.     revisit weak legislation allowing water companies until 2038 to reduce phosphate pollution in rivers from sewage overflows by only 80%, with a view to requiring more immediate action in the short- and mid-term to reduce storm overflows and ameliorate capacity issues,

b.     designate South West Water and other water authorities as a statutory consultee on all major planning applications, and require them to provide legally-binding assurances regarding any infrastructural works they indicate will be occurring,

c.      resist a request by South West Water to raise bills by over 20% by 2030, before inflationary increases, until demonstrable action on sewage spills has been taken to reduce spills towards South West Water’s own 2025 targets, and

d.     restore Environment Agency funding to 2009/10 real-terms levels, and properly fund other environmental regulators, to ensure that polluting activities are fully and robustly monitored, investigated, and where necessary enforcement action taken;

4.     Resolves that Strategic Planning Committee evaluate what planning policy measures, including spatially and/or temporally limited moratoria on development, are required to respond to any sewage capacity issues that might be identified by the upcoming Water Cycle Study at the earliest possible opportunity following its receipt;

5.     Further resolves that the results of the Water Cycle Study and any resulting measures recommended by Strategic Planning Committee be actively publicised to residents and brought to the attention of South West Water as the body responsible, including through the proposed liaison group if and when it is implemented; and

6.     Instructs that Strategic Planning Committee, or another committee if this is considered more appropriate by officers, considers a standing item to annually review progress on any recommendations made by the Water Cycle Study.

Recorded Vote:

 

For (48):  Cllrs Paul Arnott, Jess Bailey, Ian Barlow, Kevin Blakey, Kim Bloxham, Jenny Brown, Alasdair Bruce, Chris Burhop, Maddy Chapman, Iain Chubb, Bethany Collins, Roy Collins, Olly Davey, Tim Dumper, Peter Faithfull, Paula Fernley, Del Haggerty, Anne Hall, Matt Hall, Marcus Hartnell, Sam Hawkins, Paul Hayward, John Heath, Nick Hookway, Mike Howe, Stuart Hughes, Ben Ingham, Sarah Jackson, Richard Jefferies, Geoff Jung, Dan Ledger, Yehuda Levine, John Loudoun, Duncan Mackinder, Melanie Martin, Tony McCollum, Cherry Nicholas, Todd Olive, Helen Parr, Henry Riddell, Marianne Rixson, Eleanor Rylance, Andrew Toye, Susan Westerman, Joe Whibley and Dan Wilson.

 

Against:  None.

 

Abstentions (2):  Cllr Colin Brown and Mike Goodman.