This week I called Severn Trent executives to Parliament to receive an update on their plans to eradicate sewage spills from the River Chelt.
I am delighted to be able to pass on to Cheltenham Post readers that engineering work will begin in September, and spills will be all but eliminated by the end of the year. That is fantastic news for our local environment.
Some context first of all. Storm overflows are not unique to the UK. They are a safety feature across Europe at a time of heavy rain to prevent loos backing up into homes. As rainwater flows into combined drainage systems, effluent can spill into waterways albeit heavily diluted. That’s why visitors to parts of Brussels are confronted with signs reading “Hold your pee and poo when it rains.” Similar systems operate in Denmark, Germany and elsewhere.
Nor are sewage spills in Cheltenham new. They have been a feature of water management in our town for decades.
Despite all this, in my view the practice is unacceptable. Water companies pay their chief executives and shareholders handsomely, and have an equivalent public duty to show social responsibility. That includes stopping unnecessary pollution. That’s why I tracked down the outlet pipe near Dunkerton’s in Charlton Kings and called a meeting on site with Severn Trent to demand an end to the spills. Failure to do so, I warned, risked condemning them in the eyes of the public as the unacceptable face of capitalism.
So I was delighted that Severn Trent listened, and agreed to take action. They gave me a personal commitment to reduce overflows by 85% by the end of 2024. Thanks to the installation of new monitoring equipment, the target was hit in March 2023, eighteen months ahead of schedule. There have been no spills since February.
Now they are going further, with major investment to line the main sewer and install a new buffer tank to capture overflows before they enter our river. That’s hugely welcome.
Thanks to the support of local people, we are in touching distance of fixing this problem for good – and securing a clean river for future generations of Cheltonians to enjoy.
[Column published in the Cheltenham Post]