Clean Water Watch
A regular column to update readers on the damaging effects of the current management of water in Hastings, surrounding areas (and nationally) and what people are doing about it. If you have any information, please contact [email protected] marked Clean Water Watch.
Happy HIP Birthday from Clean Water Watch
Not only ten years of HIP but ten Clean Water Watch columns since it began on 23 August 2023: a regular column to update readers on the damaging effects of the current management of water in Hastings, surrounding area (and nationally) and what people are doing about it. If you have any information, please contact: [email protected] marked Clean Water Watch.
DON’T GIVE UP
A reminder of what needs to be done, not just to improve the present but also to prevent future disasters was highlighted in a 2004 report commissioned by the aptly named Foresight programme from their Flood and Coastal Defence project. Foresight is run by the Office of Science and Technology under the direction of the Chief Scientific Adviser to HM Government. In the forward, Elliot Morley MP, Environment Minister in the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) from 2003 to 2006, said he was “delighted to receive it”. We can’t help but wonder what he did with it next. An extract reads:
“Besides flooding from rivers and coasts, towns and cities will be subject to localised flooding caused by the sewer and drainage systems being overwhelmed by sudden localised downpours. The potential damages could be huge, but much more work needs to be done to quantify the potential problem.”
20 years on we are finally talking about the results of the flooding as well as the results of government inertia, inaction from regulatory bodies and greed from privatised water companies. For the full report, visit tinyurl.com/2m3n7p8d
BAD NEWS SECTION
Water companies have until the end of January to publish the new charges for household waste. The increase is said to be for work needed to help fix ageing infrastructure – left to deteriorate over many years of neglect. However this is not part of the package of £10bn that the companies say is needed to fix the pollution problem. The rises will come into force in April and will no doubt add to the anger that water companies already face – and no doubt add to those refusing to pay their bills until real progress is made.
GOOD NEWS SECTION
Local
We understand that Southern Water has agreed to fund an ecological survey of Old Roar Gill, something that campaigners have been asking for since early last year. The details are not yet clear, but Glenn Haffenden, Green Councillor recently given responsibility for the environment, should soon be up to speed and reporting back.
National
Up until now, water companies have been able to make their own checks on how they run sewage works; this includes testing samples of water they discharge into rivers. Not a good idea when saving money seems to be more important than environmental safety. The Environment Secretary, Steve Barclay has now announced that this will have to stop, a victory for all those campaigning to take this key task out of the hands of the water industry and into the hands of the Environment Agency (EA). The bad news is that this is currently only an intention, and the underfunded Environment Agency has so far been unable to properly monitor the water companies. Let’s hope they can properly monitor the sewage coming from them.
LAUGH OR CRY?
Private Eye poked fun at Southern Water in Turd of the Week for publishing a message on Twitter/X and Instagram saying proudly: “We’re delighted to have been awarded a green status in the Environment Agency’s 2023 Environmental Performance Assessment.” Apparently it led to a “tsunami of outrage”.
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