Chalk Streams: Sewage Discharge

Victoria Collins Excerpts

Tuesday 8th October 2024 Westminster Hall

[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.

[Olivia Bailey (Reading West and Mid Berkshire) (Lab)]

I, too, thank the hon. Member for securing a debate on this crucial issue. My constituency of Reading West and Mid Berkshire boasts several beautiful chalk streams. The Pang is one and it is said to have inspired “The Wind in the Willows”. I recently tested the water quality there with campaigners from the Angling Trust and found phosphate levels were three times what they should be. We would not find Ratty or Mole there any more, sadly, because that is a dangerous level of phosphate.

--- Later in debate ---

[Olivia Bailey]

I apologise. Does the hon. Lady agree that the previous Government let our chalk streams down when they abandoned their chalk stream plan? Will she join me in calling for urgent action to protect our chalk streams?

[Victoria Collins]

We have absolutely been let down by the last Conservative Government and we need to turn that around. Chalk streams and their catchment areas, such as the one in Harpenden and Berkhamsted, have been a lifeline around which our towns and villages have flourished, using the chalk streams to power thriving mill communities and supply the watercress industry. Even today, chalk streams form an important part of everyday life. Batford Springs and Redbournbury Mill are prime locations for families to paddle and play, especially on warm, sunny days. However, those precious habitats are under continued threat from pollution, from road run-off and sewage. Not one is in good overall river health.

[Several hon. Members rose—]

[Victoria Collins]

I will give way to my hon. Friend the Member for Newbury.

[Clive Efford (in the Chair)]

Clive Jones.

--- Later in debate ---

[Clive Jones]

Does my hon. Friend agree that the Government must ensure that these investments proceed, no matter the financial position of Thames Water?

[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.

[Mr Lee Dillon (Newbury) (LD)]

I thank my hon. Friend for securing this debate. Does she agree with me, and with Action for the River Kennet, that the requirement for sewage treatment works should be based not only on the population size they support, but the importance of the waterways they protect, such as the Lambourn and Kennet chalk streams that flow through my constituency of Newbury?

[Victoria Collins]

Absolutely. We have to do all we can.

After the thousands of hours of pollution into the River Ver, the Ver Valley Society found worrying levels of E. coli in the water. This has been blamed on high groundwater levels, but it still contains sewage and the fine sediment can lay in the river bed. That incident has been raised with Thames Water and their planned scheme to resolve the issue by upgrading the overflow will not be complete until 2026. We need action sooner. In the meantime, the rapid polluting of this waterway and the threat to public health and the local environment continues. That is, of course, by no means an isolated incident.

[Liz Jarvis (Eastleigh) (LD)]

I thank my hon. Friend for introducing this important debate. My constituency of Eastleigh has the precious chalk stream, the River Itchen, running through it. Earlier this year, Southern Water was found to be negligent by the Southampton Magistrates Court for dumping sewage into the Shawford lake stream that flowed into the YMCA Fairthorne Manor in Fair Oak in my constituency. Over 1,000 schoolchildren missed out on summer activities as a result. Does my hon. Friend agree that the Government should introduce a sewage tax on water company profits?

[Victoria Collins]

I will be calling for a lot in holding water companies to account.

Analysis completed by the Liberal Democrats found that almost 50,000 hours of sewage was discharged into chalk streams in 2023. That is more than double the previous year. The dire situation speaks to the 2022 report, which found that only 14% of England’s rivers had “good” ecological status. Compared with several other countries such as Austria, Greece and Malta, where 95% of bathing sites are classified as excellent, it is clear that we are letting down our rivers and streams. That must change. Despite the situation, the Conservatives stood by and let us down again and again, failing to regulate water companies properly.

[Mr Dillon]

Where are they?

[Victoria Collins]

Exactly.

I call on the Minister to provide proper protection, regulation and enforcement. Although Ofwat has finally taken action, ordering water companies to return £158 million to customers via lower bills, that is just a drop in the ocean—or, should I say, a drop in the chalk stream. We must go further. I call on the Minister for a blue flag status to protect our precious waterways, such as chalk streams, to replace Ofwat with a stronger regulator—a clean water authority—and to enforce tougher restrictions on water companies. A blue flag status for rivers and lakes would enshrine their protection, and our precious chalk streams would be ripe contenders to get such a status. Indeed, given their rarity in this world, it is worrying to know that only a dozen have sites of special scientific interest status that currently protects them.

[Sarah Green (Chesham and Amersham) (LD)]

Given that one has to go through quite an onerous process to get the SSSI status and that we recognise that chalk streams are rare, does my hon. Friend agree that a recognised special status and designation for chalk streams is needed, so that they can get the protections they actually need?

[Victoria Collins]

Absolutely. As my hon. Friend says, chalk streams are extremely rare. There are almost 200 in the world—not many at all. As for regulating our water, Ofwat simply is not fit for purpose, and we ask the Minister to replace it with a new clean water authority that takes relevant powers from the Environment Agency. We ask her to strengthen the regulatory powers and resources and set legally binding targets to prevent sewage discharge in our highly sensitive nature sites.

The clean water authority should have the power to revoke the licence of poorly performing water companies swiftly, fine top executives of water companies and initiate prosecution. It should increase water monitoring with new sewage inspectors, including unannounced inspections, with the aim of ending the self-monitoring of water companies. When it comes to water companies, we must hold them to account and reform the way in which they work. We must ask for meaningful targets and deadlines to be set for water companies to end sewage discharges, with local environmental experts on water company boards. Water companies should publish 25-year investment plans to encourage sound investment and promote the use of nature-based solutions.

[Freddie van Mierlo (Henley and Thame) (LD)]

My constituency suffered quite considerably from flooding in the past month. One reason is that chalk streams can be over-engineered, culverted and canalised through villages. Nature-based solutions offer a really good solution to improve the flow of rivers. Does my hon. Friend agree with me on that point?

[Victoria Collins]

Absolutely. We must also see a ban on bonuses for water company executives until sewage spills end and leaks are fixed. Ultimately, we need to transform water companies into public benefit companies.

Our precious chalk streams are of rare, global ecological importance and the backdrop to our towns, villages and daily lives. We must protect them for our future generations and for today’s generation. We cannot squander the opportunity to protect them under our watch.

[The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Emma Hardy)]

It is a pleasure to serve under your chairmanship, Mr Efford. I am grateful to be part of this debate, and I thank the hon. Member for Harpenden and Berkhamsted (Victoria Collins) for securing it. Is this the first debate that she has secured in the House?

[Victoria Collins]

It is my first Westminster Hall debate.

[Emma Hardy]

I am very pleased that one of the hon. Member’s first debates is on such an important issue. I do not want to get into a competition over who has the best chalk stream, but I must mention that the one near to where I live featured in “Mortimer & Whitehouse: Gone Fishing” the other day. They were at Driffield beck. We get not only to share stories here about who has the most beautiful chalk streams, but to see them on national television. I share the hon. Member’s love of them: they are England’s equivalent of the Great Barrier Reef. They are amazing things to have and to be able to say are held within our own country. They are so precious to us. They are the rarest freshwater habitat on earth, and in England we are home to 85% of them. That is a remarkable achievement.

The hon. Member is absolutely right to feel outraged and upset about the levels of river pollution. I am sure there are more enjoyable things that she would like to do on a Friday night than go and examine a sewage discharge into the water, but it is good that she was there and able to document it, because where we have evidence of illegal sewage discharges, of course we wish to prosecute.