Following Isle of Wight Conservative MP, Bob Seely’s press release about meeting with Southern Water on Friday, Cllr Richard Quigley (Lab), have shared a further update from the meeting.
As well as Southern Water pledging to reduce sewage emissions and make best use of water, Cllr Quigley says a number of other other commitments were made.
Quigley: A very positive meeting
Cllr Quigley told News OnTheWight,
“None of this will be overnight and I reserve full judgement, but it was a very positive meeting.
“Along with Cllrs Jarman, Andre and Bacon (plus our MP), we met with Southern Water to go through the recent issues on the Island.
“The bad news is they are still a privately-owned water company.
“The good news is they have committed to the following:
- Real time water quality monitoring, available to the public
- They want to make us the most sustainable water Island in Europe
- An end to sewage outflows, starting with Sandown , by building swales, ponds and storage to keep surface water on the Island and not send it out to sea.
- To treat water as a precious commodity
- Provide regenerative farming expertise for the council and farmers.
Cllr Quigley went on to add,
“We have tasked Bob Seely with tabling amendments to the planning bill that force developers to stop rainwater entering the sewage system by building soakaways, ponds and other measures.
“He has committed to this, and we have asked that he takes the issue of infrastructure stress up too.”
Council’s commitments
The Isle of Wight council have committed to the following:
- Change the new Island plan to include water as a planning concern
- With SW and other agencies, write a wholistic water plan.
- Encourage regenerative farming and support farmers to transition
- Water education to reduce individual usage below 100 litres per person per day.
Cllr Quigley finished by saying,
“It was a very encouraging meeting, the Southern Water CEO started off by admitting they haven’t done enough and committed to do more.
“So for now, we will take that.”
Image: Scott Rodgerson under CC BY 2.0
