Scarborough and Whitby Green Party criticises 'cosy relationship between politicians and polluters' following visit by Water Minister
The chair of the local Green Party has hit out at the Water Minister’s “credulous attitude” following a visit to North Yorkshire.
The Scarborough and Whitby Green Party has criticised the “cosy relationship between politicians and polluters” following the recent visit of Water Minister Emma Hardy to the resort as part of a National Water Tour “to look at where customer bill money has been spent on improving water and reducing pollution right around the country”.
On a visit last week, the minister said she had “been to visit some of the assets that have been upgraded, talking to Yorkshire Water about their improvement plans, so that we can see a constant improvement and reduction in the number of pollution incidents, so more people can enjoy the beach safely”.
Issues with Scarborough’s bathing water quality have continued to persist and last year’s ratings saw the South Bay still classed as “poor” and the North Bay’s bathing water quality classed as “sufficient”.
Yasmin Khan, chair of Scarborough and Whitby Green Party, said: “The minister is correct that water regulation has failed, so it’s baffling that she is reassured by the latest promises from Yorkshire Water.
“This is the same private company that has paid out £7.6billion to shareholders while filling our waterways with sewage.”
Yorkshire Water has said it is set to deliver its largest ever environmental investment between 2025 and 2030, with £8.3billion to be spent across the region to improve services and upgrade infrastructure.
The company spent £2.85million upgrading the Wheatcroft combined sewer outfall, which discharges a mix of rainwater and sewage into the bay during heavy rain.
Ms Khan told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “The minister’s credulous attitude sadly reflects the type of cosy relationship between politicians and polluters that has led to the mess we’re in now, and it stinks.
“We urgently need to end the decades-long experiment with privatisation and bring water back into public ownership, so the quality of our water is no longer determined by shareholders and CEOs.”
An extraordinary meeting of the Scarborough and Whitby Area Committee will be held on Monday, March 23, to discuss water quality in the town.
Ms Hardy said: “One of the projects I’ve seen is is a £3million investment in a storm tank and one of the things that they’re doing is collecting some of the storm overflow that would have been discharged to sea, holding it in tanks, waiting for drier days to come, where it can then enter the system and be treated safely.”
Asked if regulation of the water industry had failed in past years, she told the Local Democracy Reporting Service (LDRS): “Absolutely, when we came into government, it was quite clear that the regulation had failed.”
Alison Hume, Labour MP for Scarborough and Whitby, said: “The water quality ratings will be reviewed in November this year and, of course, that will impact the summer season.
“I know that due to the investment that McCain’s have made in their sewage plant of around £23million, the investment in the overflow that Yorkshire Water has made, the water quality is actually improving.”
She added: “But the official designation doesn’t come until November, and I’m going to be asking the government whether there’s any way that we can reassure visitors and residents and people going into the water, that it is actually cleaner than the poor classification suggests it is.”
Adam Ashman, head of strategic planning at Yorkshire Water, said he understood the concern of residents who have said that not enough is being done fast enough to address the poor water quality.
Mr Ashman said: “A huge amount of focus is needed to deliver the improvements that are required, and from where I sit, I see people working incredibly hard to deliver a huge amount of investment that will change the water quality in the town.”