Protestors call for end of sewage discharges in Cornwall
Campaigners are gathering outside South West Water's roadshow event in St Agnes
Last updated 26th Jun 2024
Campaigners are calling for action against polluted sewage discharges in St Agnes, Portreath and Porthtowan.
South West Water are visiting the coastal village as the latest part of their roadshow.
Protestors have shared a 'message in a bottle', which is a bottle of sea water collected this morning to be tested for pollution, to share a visual message with the privately-owned company.
Ruth Fitzjohn, swimmer from Portreath, said: "Occasionally (sewage) is meant to go out on the cliffs near Portreath and that's what's happened for 171 days on the trot, through the winter, spring and the early parts of the summer.
"I'm annoyed about it on behalf of all my friends, family and businesses in coastal towns and all the visitors who are coming down.
"There are people over there who've had meningitis for swimming in the sea. Any nurse and doctor will tell you they have people coming in with infections."
Jess Feldon, another campaigner outside the roadshow, said:
"I run a swim group and I'm also a general swimmer and user of the coast."
"We are just fed up"
Sue Heath added: "I am here today because I am so angry with this failing water company, six solid months of untreated sewage going into Portreath's sea."
According to protestors attending St Agnes, from last November onwards Portreath’s beach had 171 out of 173 days with raw sewage outflow on the local coast.
Figures from the Environment Agency reveals over the last four years, South West Water dumped untreated sewage in our seas on 180,430 occasions for a total of 1,548,155 hours. That’s more than one and a half million hours of untreated sewage going into our sea.
South West Water roadshows have been taking place across the region to share information on the local water and wastewater services and explaining the work they're doing in the area at the moment, and what's planned up to 2030.
South West Water said: “The opinions of our customers matter to us greatly and we are listening to them. That is why we are taking our Community Roadshow across the region, to share our investment plans directly with customers and have the opportunity to discuss any concerns they may have.
“We know we have more to do and we are serious about tackling storm overflows. Change of this scale takes time, ambition, and increased investment – that is why we are investing £2.8 billion in our region.
“We care deeply about our 860m of coastline and our region’s 100% bathing water quality, which we have successfully maintained for three consecutive years. We will continue to protect the environment now and into the future.
“We were one of the first water companies to monitor 100% of our storm overflows which means we know exactly what is happening, when and where, allowing us to target investment and make changes where it matters most.
“We will also be the first water company to meet the Government target of less than 10 spills per overflow, per year – a decade ahead of target.”