Chalk Streams: Sewage Discharge Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Jim Shannon
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Chalk Streams: Sewage Discharge
Jim Shannon Excerpts(1 month, 1 week ago)
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Victoria Collins (Harpenden and Berkhamsted) (LD)
I beg to move,
That this House has considered the matter of tackling sewage discharges in chalk streams.
One Friday evening, I received a text and photos from a desperate resident, Maz, as the numbers cranked up on the sewage discharge map, asking:
“Surely something can be done about our precious chalk stream!”
I had been following the situation, but as soon as I saw the photos of sewage-filled water flooding the roads, I called her straight away, saying:
“I am coming down—can you meet me there?”
Twenty minutes later and my Friday evening started by checking sewage and seeing trails of toilet paper and algae float by the side of the road next to one of the world’s rare chalk streams. The River Ver, one of the four chalk streams in Harpenden and Berkhamsted, had seen more than 1,000 hours of pollution through the sewage discharge overflow. To date, that number has reached more than 2,500 hours. That is just not good enough.
Chalk streams, long described as England’s rainforest, provide a unique environment. The stable temperature from running through chalk, combined with a high mineral content, means that chalk streams are the ideal environment for vegetation to grow and wildlife to flourish. As havens for the natural environment, chalk streams attract a diverse array of flora and fauna. From the green drake mayfly to the kingfisher, the brown trout to the endangered water vole, those precious rivers are home to a whole host of wildlife.
Jim Shannon (Strangford) (DUP)
I commend the hon. Lady for bringing the matter forward. We are unfortunate not to have chalk streams in Northern Ireland, but we do have limestone rivers, which are equal in the aqua life they have and the health of the land. Does the hon. Lady agree that when it comes to ensuring that aqua life and the environment are sustained, we need to have short-term action and long-term protection?
Victoria Collins
Absolutely. The English chalk downland houses 85% of the world’s total. It is a privilege to say that in my constituency we are home to four of those rare and precious habitats: the River Bulbourne, the River Gade, the River Lea and the River Ver.