Lib Dem Councillors Call for Cleaner Rivers in Bristol
Across the country, Britain’s rivers and waterways face a pollution crisis. Every river in England is now polluted beyond legal limits, and water companies have gotten away with dumping raw sewage in our rivers for too long.
To tackle pollution and make Bristol’s rivers safer for all, the Liberal Democrat Council Group will move the motion ‘Save our Rivers: Stopping the Sewage Scandal’ for debate at the meeting of Full Council on Tuesday 12th November.
The motion highlights the fact that Wessex Water, the company responsible for providing sewerage services in our region, dumped sewage 41,453 separate times for a total of 372,341 hours in 2023 alone. Over 10% of these were within Bristol itself, making the city the fourth worst in the UK for sewage spills by area density.
Sewage spills often occur when high volumes of rainfall and other pollutants enter the sewage system, causing untreated sewage to spill through overflows into open watercourses.
Mover of the motion, Cllr Nicholas Coombes (Lib Dem, Westbury-on-Trym and Henleaze), said “It is unacceptable that it is normalised for water companies to dump raw sewage into our local rivers.
“The River Trym, in the ward I represent, is often polluted by sewage from combined sewer overflows. It’s time for water companies to take responsibility and clean up our rivers”.
To address the issues raised, the Liberal Democrat motion calls on the Environment and Sustainability Policy Committee to set up a working group dedicated to developing policy to clean up our rivers.
Seconder of the motion and Environment and Sustainability Committee Member, Cllr Tim Kent (Lib Dem, Hengrove and Whitchurch Park), explained “With the sewage scandal being such a pressing issue, we have suggested a host of policy actions that the new working group could investigate.
“Properly storing data on river quality across Bristol and encouraging the use of water butts to harvest rainwater and stop it from entering the sewerage system are two of our suggestions that are simple but have the potential to be impactful in cleaning up our rivers.
“It’s also important that the Council and Wessex Water ensure they are getting the basics right. Making sure that rainwater from gutters is going into the storm drainage system, and not into the sewage system, is a crucial first step”.
The motion also looks beyond the Council and calls on the Government to reform and strengthen the organisations that regulate water companies and enforce environmental standards.
The motion will be debated as the ‘Golden Motion’ in the meeting of Bristol City Council’s Full Council on Tuesday 12th November, starting at 6pm.
Notes to editors:
- Motion and Full Council agenda can be found here: ModernGov - bristol.gov.uk
- Latest relevant national Liberal Democrat campaign: The Clean Water Authority - Liberal Democrats