OnTheWight always welcomes a Letter to the Editor to share with our readers – unsurprisingly they don’t always reflect the views of this publication. If you have something you’d like to share, get in touch and of course, your considered comments are welcome below.
This Open Letter to Isle of Wight Conservative MP, Bob Seely, from Mark Lansbury, Newchurch. Ed
I was reading your PR and spin sent to News On The Wight with regards to your vote supporting continued, legal dumping of raw sewage by privatized water companies. You statements were insulting and offensive, with no respect for the intelligence or critical reasoning of any Islanders. To be honest, yours was a stunning display of arrogance.
But, we still need to End Sewage Pollution by amending the Environment Bill by placing a legal duty on water companies to take all reasonable steps to ensure untreated sewage is not discharged from storm overflows.
The Lords, with the backing of 91,000 members of the public and cross party support, passed amendment 60 to Clause 80 to put this duty into the Bill. But we need your support to ensure this duty makes it into the Act.
Changes to Bill don’t deliver the urgent action needed
As you know storm overflows discharged raw sewage into rivers in our constituency for at least 1,3215 hours in 2020 (for more info visit the Website).
Recent government changes to the Bill alone don’t deliver the urgent action needed to end sewage pollution.
Brexit effect
Dumping of sewage was never an issue when the UK was part of the EU.
The inability of our water companies to obtain the materials and chemicals needed to treat our sewage are in short supply due to the Brexit you supported and assured us would not have a negative effect on us.
Support amendments to clause 82
That’s why I’m calling on you, as my MP, to support amendments to clause 82 (as you claim you support) when the Bill returns to the Commons and ensure the legal duty not to pollute makes it into the Act.
Image: Scott Rodgerson under CC BY 2.0
