Rivers, Lakes and Seas: Water Quality

Anna Gelderd Excerpts

Wednesday 15th January 2025 Westminster Hall

[Anna Gelderd (South East Cornwall) (Lab)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairship, Mr. Dowd, and I thank my hon. Friend the Member for Monmouthshire (Catherine Fookes) for securing this important debate.

South East Cornwall is known for its beautiful environment, both on land and at sea, which attracts millions of visitors every year. Yet we face a growing water quality crisis, which threatens our environment, public health, livelihoods and local biodiversity. South East Cornwall has been ranked 14th in the UK for the number of hours of sewage dumping in 2023. In Duloe, residents and the parish council have been instrumental in raising awareness. They came together to campaign against the high levels of sewage being dumped in the Looe river, and through their efforts achieved improvements in the river’s water quality.

Good water quality in our rivers, lakes and seas is vital to rural and coastal communities such as mine. Tourism is essential to Cornwall’s economy, but it relies on clean beaches and safe waters. Poor water quality deters visitors, which really impacts the small businesses that depend on them, as well as wild swimmers, some of whom have reported illness, including members of my own wild swimming group.

[Lisa Smart (Hazel Grove) (LD)]

The hon. Lady talks about swimmers falling ill because of sewage dumping, and the same thing has happened to groups of teenagers in my constituency. The most recent issue with sewage dumping in my patch involved a flooded field, and I am grateful to all the constituents who sent me photos of the raw sewage in that field. I am sure the hon. Lady will agree that the Water (Special Measures) Bill is a real opportunity to move forward and tackle some of these issues, but does she also agree that we need to go even further, possibly by having a sewage tax—

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[Peter Dowd (in the Chair)]

Order. Will people pay respect to the Chair’s decision? When I ask you to sit down, would you please do so? Thank you very much.

[Anna Gelderd]

Thank you, Mr Dowd, and I thank the hon. Lady for her intervention.

I thank Feargal Sharkey, who visited my constituency last summer, and I thank the Minister for all her work on this important topic. Feargal Sharkey met local residents with me and heard the strength of local feeling on this issue. Our fishing communities suffer from poor water quality, which can cause habitat degradation and put our commercial catches at risk. Research by the Marine Conservation Society and the University of Portsmouth has shown a worrying increase in chemicals such as per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances in seaweed. PFAS, which are known as forever chemicals because of their highly persistent qualities, do not break down in our natural environment. They accumulate in the environment and in our food chain, impacting biodiversity and public health. This is a serious concern, and I look forward to working with the Minister to do more to address it.

Labour’s Water (Special Measures) Bill is a much-needed first step towards improving the accountability and performance of water companies, which is something I welcome and I congratulate the Minister on. It is time to ensure that water bosses can no longer sell us down the river. Customer service, environmental protection and investment in infrastructure must be prioritised over profit in relation to what is fundamentally a public asset.

[Noah Law (St Austell and Newquay) (Lab)]

Will my hon. Friend give way?

[Peter Dowd (in the Chair)]

Order. I ask the hon. Gentleman not to intervene, because we are right up against it. Thank you.

[Anna Gelderd]

I know my hon. Friend the Member for St Austell and Newquay (Noah Law) is an important champion for Cornwall as well.

South East Cornwall’s beautiful, natural environment is priceless, and I applaud the determination of my local residents to make a difference. We also have the national leadership that is so essential to tackle this crisis. The Government are already taking action to clean up the mess that we inherited, and we know that the Water (Special Measures) Bill is a vital first step to support constituencies such as mine, and local campaigners in them. I look forward to working with the Minister to restore water quality, protect our environment, improve public health and secure livelihoods in South East Cornwall.