Agenda item

Motion to be proposed by Councillor Bob Johnston and seconded by Councillor David Grant

Council notes the growing popularity of wild swimming, paddling, kayaking and paddle boarding in the River Thames and its tributaries and, more importantly, the intrinsic value of clean water and healthy, biodiverse rivers.

The UK water companies are permitted to release raw sewage into waterways in specific circumstances, under licence from the Environment Agency.  Regulators rely on self-reporting on the part of the water companies and there is no way for river users to know in real time when these Controlled Sewage Overflows (CSO’s) happen.

In 2017 Thames Water received the largest fine ever handed to a water utility for an environmental disaster after it spilled raw sewage into the Thames, with the judge stating that the company had a history of non-compliance.  However, the issue of water cleanliness persists.  Data from the River Trust revealed that Thames Water’s sewage treatment works spilled raw sewage into the upper Thames, between Lechlade and Reading, more than 1,300 times in 2019, for 17,000 hours in total.

Hundreds of beaches around the UK have Bathing Quality Water status, this ensures that the Environment Agency monitors and reports on water quality throughout the bathing season.

Only a handful of inland lakes, and no rivers, have Bathing Quality Water status.

Recognising the intrinsic importance of the river Thames as a natural asset of national significanceand its value to our communities, this Council:-

1. Asks officers to work with appropriate partners such as the Environment Agency, the Rivers Trust and Surfers against Sewage to begin the process of applying for Bathing Quality Water status for the river Thames in the Vale of White Horse.
2. Commits to taking part in the meetings of councils from along the River that are being hosted by South Oxfordshire District Council’s Thames Champion, Councillor Jo Robb, to discuss opportunities for our council to join others in promoting and working towards cleaner rivers.
3. Asks the Leader to write to Thames Water calling on them to (a) draft and implement an action plan for the elimination of CSO’s across its sewage treatment network and (b)to provide accurate, real-time publicly available information about CSO’s into the Thames and its tributaries.
4. Asks the Leader to write to the Vale’s two MPs asking them to support Philip Dunne MP’s Sewage (Inland Waters) Bill when it has its second reading in Parliament on 15 January 2021. 

5.    Aims to build on opportunities to influence Thames Water’s practices – such as our successful application to become a strategic partner in Thames Water’s Surface Water Management Programme for 2020-2025.

Councillor Bob Johnston moved, and Councillor David Grant seconded the motion as set out in the agenda at agenda item 12.

Those councillors who expressed a view spoke in support of the motion. The reduction in funding for the Environment Agency had reduced its capacity to enforce regulations resulting in an increase in pollution incidents and a reduction in the number of prosecutions. Bathing Quality Water status would improve the quality of the water and address concerns regarding the health of people who swim in the water contaminated with sewerage and improve the biodiversity of the river.

On being put the motion was declared carried.

RESOLVED:

That Council notes the growing popularity of wild swimming, paddling, kayaking and paddle boarding in the River Thames and its tributaries and, more importantly, the intrinsic value of clean water and healthy, biodiverse rivers.

The UK water companies are permitted to release raw sewage into waterways in specific circumstances, under licence from the Environment Agency.  Regulators rely on self-reporting on the part of the water companies and there is no way for river users to know in real time when these Controlled Sewage Overflows (CSO’s) happen.

In 2017 Thames Water received the largest fine ever handed to a water utility for an environmental disaster after it spilled raw sewage into the Thames, with the judge stating that the company had a history of non-compliance.  However, the issue of water cleanliness persists.  Data from the River Trust revealed that Thames Water’s sewage treatment works spilled raw sewage into the upper Thames, between Lechlade and Reading, more than 1,300 times in 2019, for 17,000 hours in total.

Hundreds of beaches around the UK have Bathing Quality Water status, this ensures that the Environment Agency monitors and reports on water quality throughout the bathing season.

Only a handful of inland lakes, and no rivers, have Bathing Quality Water status.

Recognising the intrinsic importance of the river Thames as a natural asset of national significanceand its value to our communities, this Council:-

1. Asks officers to work with appropriate partners such as the Environment Agency, the Rivers Trust and Surfers against Sewage to begin the process of applying for Bathing Quality Water status for the river Thames in the Vale of White Horse.
2. Commits to taking part in the meetings of councils from along the River that are being hosted by South Oxfordshire District Council’s Thames Champion, Councillor Jo Robb, to discuss opportunities for our council to join others in promoting and working towards cleaner rivers.
3. Asks the Leader to write to Thames Water calling on them to (a) draft and implement an action plan for the elimination of CSO’s across its sewage treatment network and (b)to provide accurate, real-time publicly available information about CSO’s into the Thames and its tributaries.
4. Asks the Leader to write to the Vale’s two MPs asking them to support Philip Dunne MP’s Sewage (Inland Waters) Bill when it has its second reading in Parliament on 15 January 2021. 

5.    Aims to build on opportunities to influence Thames Water’s practices – such as our successful application to become a strategic partner in Thames Water’s Surface Water Management Programme for 2020-2025.