Concern over sewage infrastructure on the Isle of Wight was voiced at a parish council meeting ahead of Southern Water CEO Lawrence Gosden’s visit to the Island today (Thursday, 11th June 2026).
The failure of the corporation’s pumping station on Madeira Road in the West Wight was raised at Totland Parish Council (TPC) on Monday (8th June 2026) where some councillors mentioned a lack of water company investment.
On 21st May 2026, the Environment Agency advised people not to enter the water at Colwell Bay and Totland Bay due to pollution from sewage.
At the time, Southern Water apologised and said its Madeira Road facility had failed. They said it would be manually operated to help ensure there are no further failures.
Pumping station failure prompted pollution warnings
A spokesperson for the utility today said it is ‘very sorry’ for what happened at the station last month and for the impact this had locally.
They added that the company is carrying out a ‘full internal investigation’ to understand ‘what went wrong’ and to help prevent this happening again.
TPC chair Gareth Wyre said,
“They were there a few days…all the lorries were down there being filled up with waste and being taken away. Hopefully we’ll get a report…to find out exactly and if there’s anything in place to try to prevent it happening again.
“All our sewage has to go from here to Sandown to be treated. If there’s any hold ups anywhere along the way…they can’t pump it and they can hold it here for so long.”
Parish council raises investment concerns
Another representative, Councillor Marcus Pipe, claimed the public pay more for their sewage to be removed than for their water to be supplied.
He said there is ‘obviously’ an issue with ‘old machinery’ and mentioned a lack of investment.
Long-term infrastructure risk highlighted
The councillor said,
“What is much more difficult is this point about having to pump it (sewage) all to Sandown.
“That is a long-term problem. Because we are on an Island it’s very easy just to dump it in the sea.”
Councillor Wyre said,
“This is 2026…this shouldn’t be going on really. But then that’s been lack of investment within the water industry for decades.”
Southern Water outlines £99m investment plan
Southern Water told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS) its CEO Lawrence Gosden met with councillors this week to listen to concerns and discuss the company’s performance, pressures on the network and planned investment across the Isle of Wight.
They said,
“We’re investing £99 million to improve our environmental performance and secure future water supplies. This includes accelerated work – approved by Ofwat—to cut releases from storm overflows at eight locations, including Gurnard, West Wight, Cowes, Ryde, Wroxall and Freshwater.
“Alongside this, we are upgrading infrastructure, trialling new technology and working with partners to reduce the amount of rainwater entering sewers in the first place – all of which will help protect bathing waters and the Island’s environment in the long term.”
This article is from the BBC’s LDRS (Local Democracy Reporter Service) scheme, which News OnTheWight is taking part in. Some alterations and additions may have been made by OnTheWight. Ed
