Lib Dems lead charge on sewage dumping in West Suffolk

There has been over 1000 hours of sewage dumping in West Suffolk rivers in 2022 alone, according to sewage monitoring website Top of the Poops. This has been over 189 separate dumps in our local rivers, from the River Stour to the River Lark. Meanwhile, the executives of the water companies have paid themselves £51 million, including £30.6 million in bonuses over the last two years.

This was before the Conservatives voted earlier this year to allow water companies to dump sewage in our local rivers and streams for the next 15 years.

Analysis by the Liberal Democrats last year also found that 1 out of 6 sewage monitors were broken, meaning that this may not even be the full picture and this problem could be even worse than first thought.

Liberal Democrat Lead Campaigner for West Suffolk, Henry Batchelor, had to say this on the issue:

“I am utterly shocked and appalled at the state in which our rivers have been used as waste grounds by Anglian Water. This does nothing except destroy our local environment and stop people from enjoying the beauty of our natural rivers just so water companies can make a bit of extra money. Local people want to enjoy the nature around them and not have rivers so polluted that they are potentially dangerous to our health; our local environments and community has to come first.

I support the Liberal Democrat plan to legislate to make these companies Public Benefit Companies, which means that they only deliver dividends to their shareholders once they make the investment into our crumbling sewage system.”