A BCP Green Party councillor says public services need to be brought back into public hands after a regulator found Wessex Water failed to adequately maintain and upgrade its wastewater network.
Wessex Water, which provides sewage services in Dorset, has proposed an £11 million enforcement package to avoid being fined £10 million by the Ofwat.
The package includes helping private landowners to seal sewer pipes, reducing spills at specific storm overflows, installing additional monitoring equipment, and helping customers to sustainable manage rainwater at their properties. None of the investment will be paid for by customers or added to their bills.
The BCP Green Party says that Wessex Water has paid over £4.25 billion to shareholders since privatisation.
Green Party councillor Kate Salmon said “Instead of investing in our water, privatisation has paid shareholders – while everyone else pays out every time there’s a leak or overflow. If we want to clean up our rivers and lower bills, we need to bring public services back into public hands.”
In a joint statement, South West Liberal Democrat MPs said, “Wessex Water has gotten away with environmental vandalism for far too long, carelessly polluting beaches and rivers throughout the South West with filthy sewage.
“No amount of money from Wessex Water could atone for the damage already done, but we must ensure these reckless water companies put an end to sewage dumping and stop putting profit above people once and for all.”
Vikki Slade, MP for Mid Dorset and North Poole, added “I am saddened but not surprised. In England, almost a third of every water bill now goes towards servicing debt or paying dividends, that’s a scandal. People are paying more and getting dirtier rivers in return. It’s time we put people and the planet before profit.
“Labour must get a grip on this crisis. They need to urgently establish a new, independent water regulator with the power to prosecute polluters, enforce meaningful fines, and block shareholder payouts when rivers are poisoned.”
The Liberal Democrat have made tackling sewage pollution a national priority and are calling for tougher regulations to hold water companies to account, ‘blue flag’ measures for rivers, and a review of private ownership in the water industry.
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