Residents of our district are rightly concerned about water quality and the impact of regular wastewater discharges, which can include untreated sewage, into our local rivers and the impact of this on wildlife and on human health.
As more new homes are built and the district’s population rises, the release of sewage into rivers is no longer an emergency-only situation occurring as a result of severe storms, but in some locations has become a regular occurrence even in moderate rainfall. Here is a summary of combined storm overflow discharges at four sites across the district in 2021:
Treatment Site |
Number of discharge events |
Total discharge hours |
Stonham Aspal |
108 |
1,898 |
Elmswell |
71 |
698 |
Badwell Ash |
68 |
1,074 |
Horham |
51 |
1,162 |
Source: The Rivers Trust (analysis of Anglian Water data)
Discharges of sewage can alter the delicate nutrient balance of streams and rivers, causing negative impacts on wildlife and the whole ecosystem. Wild swimmers are known to bathe at several sites in Mid-Suffolk and in streams and rivers which flow out of the district, including the Blackbourne, the Gipping and the Waveney, and discharges upstream heighten the risk of illness in river users.
Anglian Water is a statutory consultee to major planning applications, but its response relates to whether it has network capacity, rather than whether it has treatment capacity. We believe Anglian Water needs to be encouraged to consider its sewage treatment capacity in the light of rising numbers of homes and businesses in the district.
This Council therefore resolves to:
1. Ask the chair of the scrutiny committee to invite senior officers of Anglian Water plus senior representatives from the relevant internal Drainage Boards, Natural England and the Environment Agency to attend a meeting to answer questions on the current levels of untreated sewage discharges to waters in Mid Suffolk.
2. Ensure that in gathering evidence for future iterations of the local plan the council consider the cumulative impact of sewage when deciding the overall level of housing and other development. The council notes that decisions about allocations in the Joint Local Plan will be guided by an updated Water Cycle Study. This should take into account the impact of combined sewer overflow discharges on watercourses and the capacity of waste water treatment works to process anticipated new foul drainage.
3. Ask Anglian Water, from this date onwards, in its planning consultation responses for major development, to identify which treatment works will be managing the sewage and what their capacity is to treat additional volumes of effluent; whether it has the information available to assess the impact on the number or duration of sewage discharges into local rivers, and if it does have this information to share it (noting that this can only be requested not required).
4. Request that planning officers, from now onwards, include in all reports relating to major development a specific section on the impacton watercourses, including the potential for the development to result in untreated sewage outflow into watercourses (i.e. cumulative impact), or to flag if this information is not fully available, so that this information (or the lack of it) is clearly and transparently set out.
Proposer: Cllr Andrew Mellen
Seconder: Cllr Jessica Fleming
Minutes:
76.1 Councillor Mellen PROPOSED his Motion which sought to address some of the issues arising from the impact of regular wastewater discharges into local rivers and the effect of this on wildlife and human health, by resolving to publicly scrutinise the issues at a meeting of the Overview and Scrutiny Committee, giving due consideration to the cumulative impact of sewage when making decisions regarding allocations in the Joint Local Plan, and requesting that Planning Officers include details on the impact on watercourses in all reports relating to major developments, or to identify where this information is not available.
76.2 Councillor Fleming SECONDED the motion, commenting that the motion recognised the concerns of the general public regarding water quality, and laid out how the Council address these concerns.
76.3 Members debated the motion on issues including: the impact of permeable surfaces on surface water drainage, the benefits of the proposed changes to the planning system.
76.4 Councillor Richardson proposed an amendment to the motion requesting that in addition to any proposed changes to the planning system, the Council lobby local MPs and Ofwat to express concerns over water quality and the desire to see improvements.
76.5 The amendment was accepted by the Proposer and Seconder.
76.6 Members continued to debate the motion on issues including: the comments currently received from consultees regarding planning applications, the work undertaken by the Suffolk Drainage Board to raise awareness of the issues, the role the Overview and Scrutiny Committee could play, the negative effect on residents, the environments, ecosystems, and other factors leading to river pollution.
It was RESOLVED:
This Council resolves to:
1. Ask the chair of the scrutiny committee to invite senior officers of Anglian Water plus senior representatives from the relevant internal Drainage Boards, Natural England and the Environment Agency to attend a meeting to answer questions on the current levels of untreated sewage discharges to waters in Mid Suffolk.
2. Ensure that in gathering evidence for future iterations of the local plan the council consider the cumulative impact of sewage when deciding the overall level of housing and other development. The council notes that decisions about allocations in the Joint Local Plan will be guided by an updated Water Cycle Study. This should take into account the impact of combined sewer overflow discharges on watercourses and the capacity of waste water treatment works to process anticipated new foul drainage.
3. Ask Anglian Water, from this date onwards, in its planning consultation responses for major development, to identify which treatment works will be managing the sewage and what their capacity is to treat additional volumes of effluent; whether it has the information available to assess the impact on the number or duration of sewage discharges into local rivers, and if it does have this information to share it (noting that this can only be requested not required).
4. Request that planning officers, from now onwards, include in all reports relating to major development a specific section on the impacton watercourses, including the potential for the development to result in untreated sewage outflow into watercourses (i.e. cumulative impact), or to flag if this information is not fully available, so that this information (or the lack of it) is clearly and transparently set out.
5. That the Council lobby local MPs and Ofwat to express concerns over water quality and the desire to see improvements.