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ePetition details

Sewage discharge by Water companies

We, the undersigned, petition the Council to Request a formal explanation from our local MP's as to why they voted down Lords Amendment 45* *Lords Amendment 45 to the Environment Bill would have placed a legal duty on water companies in England and Wales “to make improvements to their sewerage systems and demonstrate progressive reductions in the harm caused by discharges of untreated sewage". MPs Laura Farris and John Redwood voted to defeat the Lords amendment (Alok Sharma did not vote). We also petition the Council's Oversight and Scrutiny Management Commission (OSMC) to robustly question Thames Water at their scheduled appearance in March 2022. OSMC should focus on the amount of discharge in local waterways and the proposed investment in improvements to infrastructure. West Berkshire residents urge the Council to condemn the discharging of raw sewage into our waterways, and call upon all stakeholders to work together to end this environmentally destructive practice which also damages public health.

Discharge of sewages into our rivers and coastal out flows has become a growing program due to chronic under investment by the private companies who are responsible for maintaining our waste systems

Indeed the privatised companies have paid dividends to extract huge profits while neglecting the infrastructure. £57bn since 1991.

https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jul/01/england-privatised-water-firms-dividends-shareholders

It is worth noting that this is over 1/3rd of cost of investment that MP Laura Farris has quoted as needing to have been spent to bring the mostly victorian infrastructure up to standard.

This is very much a local issue as highlighted by Feargal Sharkey in September 2020.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-england-berkshire-54024479

https://twitter.com/Feargal_Sharkey/status/1300705626574802945?s=20

The people of West Berkshire are understandably angry about this especially at a time of growing environmental awareness across West Berkshire and the country at large.

When people swim, bath or participate in activities in and around sewage contaminated water there are significant risks to public health such as gastroenteritis, ear, nose and throat infections, skin infections, and even hepatitis and e-coli.

https://www.sas.org.uk/water-quality/

This ePetition ran from 25/10/2021 to 22/11/2021 and has now finished.

278 people signed this ePetition.