Chalk Streams: Sewage Discharge
Debate between Helen Maguire and Victoria Collins(2 months, 2 weeks ago)
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Victoria Collins
Absolutely. These are vital investments that have to go ahead.
Locally, many organisations have worked tirelessly for many years to highlight the importance of precious catchment areas and protect them. From the Chiltern Society, the Ver Valley Society, the Chilterns Chalk Streams Project, the River Colne Catchment Action Network and the Herts and Middlesex Wildlife Trust to local volunteers at Batford springs, Friends of the Bulbourne and the Not Bourne Yesterday project—
Helen Maguire (Epsom and Ewell) (LD)
I thank my hon. Friend for giving way and congratulate her on securing the debate today. In Epsom and Ewell, we have two chalk streams, which are important not only ecologically, but for our cultural heritage. The Hogsmill river is a chalk stream so serene that it provided the perfect setting for John Millais’s painting, “Ophelia”. Knowing the ecological and cultural significance of Hogsmill, it has been sad to see its water quality worsen due to pollution. In September alone, sewage overflowed into Hogsmill for over 30 hours. Does my hon. Friend agree that our chalk streams, including the Hogsmill, are not just local treasures, but part of our national heritage, and that swift action is needed to protect them against degradation from sewage discharges?
Victoria Collins
Absolutely. Many of my constituents are horrified at the local state of rivers and frustrated by the lack of progress, and feel compelled to attend the march for clean water on Sunday 3 November. Sewage pumping in our rivers is hugely damaging for the local environment, contaminating the water with unacceptably high levels of phosphates and nitrates, and poses a major health risk.