New Lewes district homes 'adding to sewage burden on already overloaded system'

Put forward by Green councillor Emily O’Brien at a full council meeting on Monday (May 23), the motion called on the authority to make ten resolutions connected to sewage being released into rivers and the sea.

These included calls for Southern Water to be asked to make clear what impact new development would have on the rates of sewage releases, when the company gives its official responses to planning applications within the district.

Cllr O’Brien said: “In my ward in Ringmer, the water treatment works there has been releasing untreated wastewater — which includes untreated sewage, let’s be clear — for an average of 18 hours a week. That’s ten per cent of the time.

“Dumping untreated wastewater is supposed to be an emergency measure that water companies can take to stop our toilets from backing up in the case of freak storms.

“Yet, it has become normalised. It has become an everyday occurrence and that is just not acceptable.”

She added: “Every new house and every new toilet adds to sewage burden in an already overloaded system. Even worse, loopholes in the planning system introduced by the government are encouraging a load of new housing in places like Ringmer, outside of that agreed by the Local Plan. “But under the rules, as a planning authority, we have to assume that Southern Water will simply deal with the extra waste, even though this clearly not happening; it is like a blind spot.”

The motion called on the council to take a wide range of other actions, as well. These included a commitment that the authority’s new local development plan “fully assesses the cumulative impact of sewage discharge”.It also called on Southern Water, the Environment Agency and Natural England to attend a Lewes District Council Policy and Performance Committee meeting to answer questions from councillors.

The motion received unanimous, cross-party, support from Lewes councillors, however, it was also noted that the calls on Southern Water (and the other outside bodies) would be a request, rather than something the council could enforce.When approached for comment, Southern Water offered a statement in response to the motion.

In it, Sandra Norval, Southern Water’s Future Growth Lead, said: “We have no say in developments and everyone has the right to connect to our system. We do provide detailed information to planning authorities about our assets and our ability to serve customers on every occasion.

“We plan for growth and involve developers as well as councils in the process.

“Between 2020 and 2025 we are spending £2 billion improving our network and equipment. We strive to be the most open and transparent company in the sector. We publish environmental on every aspect of our performance.

“Understanding the impact of our operations on river health is key – alongside other factors such as agriculture and industry – and we are currently poised to trial real time water quality monitoring in two locations – a UK first.”

Ahead of the meeting, a demonstration was held outside County Hall, where campaigners showed their support for the motion.