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Tag: Statement

King’s Speech: welcome news of a Water Bill to improve water quality through tougher regulation; but proposed mandatory housing targets must not lead to more human waste in our rivers

Posted on by lewis

Responding to the King’s Speech and the Government’s plans to introduce a Water Bill to improve water quality by putting failing water companies under tough special measures by strengthening the water regulators, CEO of River Action James Wallace said, “We are pleased that river campaigners have been listened to and welcome the news that the Government will put in place a bill to improve water quality by holding water companies accountable by strengthening the water regulators, including the Environment Agency and Ofwat, the latter considered by many to be a captured regulator.

“Cleaning up the UK’s rivers was a Labour manifesto promise so now we wait to see what extra powers, funding and resources the regulators will be given to put failing water companies under special measures, to ban bonuses for polluting water company bosses; and to use the full force of the law to bring criminal charges against persistent polluters who put profit before the health of rivers and river users.

On plans to stimulate economic growth through planning reform and mandatory housing targets, CEO of River Action James Wallace said, 

“It remains to be seen how the Government will balance the need for sustainable new homes and healthy rivers. The two are not mutually exclusive.

“The current outdated and underfunded wastewater infrastructure system cannot cope with a nationwide homebuilding program without rapid investment to reduce the risks of putting more sewage into our already dirty rivers. After decades of chronic under investment, the wastewater system buckles when it rains, leading to the release of raw sewage into rivers and the sea, ostensibly to protect properties from overloaded sewers during heavy storm events. In reality, the system can’t even cope with a light rain shower. Therefore, alongside home building with rainwater and grey water reuse, we need legally binding measures and effective planning interventions put in place to protect our rivers from pollution. This means, at a minimum, expanding the capacity of wastewater treatment works and implementing sustainable drainage systems (SUDS) in new sustainable housing developments.”

ENDS

For interviews call Ian at River Action on 07377 547 362.

Households punished for failure of greedy water companies to upgrade crumbling infrastructure, filling rivers with human sewage

Posted on by lewis

Responding to the Ofwat announcement that household water bills are set to rise, CEO of River Action James Wallace said, “These bill hikes punish households struggling with the cost-of-living crisis for the abject failure of greedy water companies to invest in their crumbling infrastructure and reduce record sewage spills.  For decades the industry has put profit before the environment, rewarding its shareholders with billions in dividends, and in the process filling our rivers with human sewage.

“We face climate breakdown resulting in more intense weather events that put pressure on treatment plants and storm overflows, overwhelmed when it rains. The water companies have realised they’re in a mess of their making and have successfully appealed to Ofwat to approve increases in water bills to climate proof their infrastructure. It begs the question, what have they been doing all these decades and what exactly are households paying their water bills for, apart from lining the pockets of fat-cat CEOs trousering massive bonuses and seeing huge dividends flow to shareholders? Remember, this is an industry that spews millions of litres of sewage into rivers and wastes 3 billion litres of water a day.

“We must fix this national embarrassment of systemic sewage pollution which has caused environmental carnage to our rivers. To do this, rather than hiking customer bills and getting the public to pay for the failure of the water companies, Ofwat should direct their shareholders to urgently invest in fixing their leaky infrastructure. 

“Failing water companies should be put into special administration and refinanced to remove the opaque investment structures that have protected shareholders rather than bill payers, communities, and the environment. This process must begin now. We are in a freshwater emergency.

“The newly elected Labour Government has set out cleaning up our rivers as a priority and the manifesto committed to put failing water companies under special measures. The government has the political and public mandate behind it to push forward with ambitious measures that can hit water companies with the full force of the law, prioritising cleaning up our rivers, securing freshwater and restoring nature.  Ofwat and the Environment Agency must be resourced properly to clean up the mess of the last two decades of strategic deregulation and austerity.

“But we also need wholesale reform of Ofwat to ensure that people and the environment are prioritised over investors; and of the Environment Agency to ensure increased water quality monitoring and more meaningful fines of polluters. To date, Ofwat has allowed our water companies to be asset stripped by the financial engineering of their investors to the extent the country’s sewage infrastructure is failing due to woeful under-investment, and the Environment Agency has allowed this to happen with impunity.”

ENDS

For media interviews call Ian at River Action on 07377 547 362 or email media@riveractionuk.com

STATEMENT: River Action’s response to the Wye Action Plan announced by the Government (12/04/24)

Posted on by lewis

Responding to the Wye River Action Plan announced today by the Government, Chair and Founder of River Action Charles Watson said:

“The announcement of DEFRA’s long-overdue Wye Action plan, has to be welcomed in part. In particular, there is finally a clear acknowledgment of the causes responsible for the ecological collapse of the river and the role played by intensive agricultural and the poultry industry specifically. Notwithstanding the scandal of how this tragic situation was ever allowed to happen in the first place – and in particular how one of Europe’s largest concentrations of intensive poultry production could have ever conceivably been allowed to have been established in such a highly protected and ecologically sensitive river catchment – certain specific undertakings, such as the provision of more subsidy for wider river buffers can only be good news for the river.

However, our major disappointment is that while we were promised a year ago by the Secretary of State for DEFRA an “action plan” to save the Wye, we have instead been given today just an undertaking for “the development of a 5-10 year Catchment Plan” and that other proposed actions are similarly vague and lack definitive timelines, such amending Environmental Permitting Regulations on manure use being “subject to consultation”. There is also a thundering silence on critically important actions such as banning new intensive livestock production units and reducing the permitting thresholds for poultry units to ensure the widely polluting free range egg producers are brought into the permitting regime. The absence also of any new funding for the regulatory agencies – or commitment to be tougher on non-compliance means that the current ineffective advisory approach to regulation remains unchanged.

There is therefore a really disappointing lack of urgency in today’s announcement and given the failure of the existing Wye Nutrient Management Board over many years to fulfil its promise to develop a similar set of promises around implementing an effective Catchment Plan, I can’t help feeling that we have been here before.”

ENDS

For interviews call Ian Woolverton on 07377 547 362 or email media@riveractionuk.com

STATEMENT: River Action responds to rising water bills

Posted on by lewis

Responding to the news that the average household water and sewerage bill in England and Wales will rise by 6% or about £27 to £473 a year from April 1, CEO of River Action James Wallace said:

“While support for lower income households is welcome, when the water industry says £14.4 billion will be invested by water companies what they really mean is most of the money will be paid by customers, again. 

 “Ultimately the Government is to blame for allowing water companies to profiteer while manipulating water pricing downwards over the past 14 years, creating a false illusion of cheap water, without even considering the costs of inflation. 

 “The suggestion that customers should pay more for water will be a very tough message to sell when the bills they have already paid water companies have been squandered on shareholder dividends and CEO bonuses rather than investing in maintaining leaky infrastructure. 

 “Why should the public pay twice for the modernisation and maintenance of sewage treatment and water resources? What assurances will the Government provide to ensure customer money is actually spent on promised water security and cutting pollution? Having overseen corporate daylight robbery for years, rebuilding trust will be key. 

 “And when will this Government commit to restructuring failing water companies and reform and refund the ragged skeletal remains of the Environment Agency and Ofwat? The freshwater emergency demands immediate systemic change to avert widespread ecocide and water shortages that will affect millions.”

ENDS:

For enquiries, comment or further information, please contact:

  • Ian Woolverton, Senior PR Coordinator: 07377 547 362; ian@riveractionuk.com

STATEMENT: River Action responds to OEP report revealing plans to clean up rivers “off track”

Posted on by lewis

River Action’s response to the Office for Environmental Protection report, published today, which shows progress to ensure rivers reach good ecological status by 2027 is “largely off track”.

James Wallace, CEO of River Action UK, says, “It is no surprise that the Government’s own regulator – the OEP – gives a largely damning report on progress towards legally binding targets.

“After 14 years of cutbacks for environmental regulation, our rivers, wildlife and water security are in a dire state. Next we need the OEP to unleash its full armoury in pursuit of the many complaints of Government malpractice, incompetence and illegality with ferocity and urgency, and to pressure the Government to do its job: incentivise sustainable farming and waste management, ensure water companies are structured and financed to serve their customers, and ensure Ofwat and the Environment agency are reformed and resourced to monitor polluters and enforce the law.

“CEO’s of profiteering corporations like Thames Water should be quaking in their boots at the thought of penalties and prosecution, not laughing all the way to the bank. We are in a freshwater emergency and desperately need leadership and action, not broken promises and kowtowing to international shareholders.”

ENDS:

For enquiries, comment or further information, please contact:

  • Ian Woolverton, Senior PR Coordinator: 07377 547 362; ian@riveractionuk.com