Cllr Robert Carington, resented to Buck’s Councils Cabinet the report on the review he led for the council’s transport, environment and climate change committee looking at pollution in our watercourses and chalk streams. Chalk streams are unique as they provide pure, clear water from underground chalk aquifers and springs where wildlife can grow and thrive and most of those in the world exist in southern and eastern. The outcome of the report means that Buckinghamshire Council is vowing to do what it can to lobby water companies and the Environment Agency on polluted watercourses in the county. The council’s Transport, Environment and Climate Change (TECC) Select Committee carried out the rapid review into potential pollution of the water courses after fears that more discharges by water companies and the impact of HS2 works were potentially polluting the chalk aquifer beneath the Misbourne Valley.
Buckinghamshire Council does not have responsibility for water quality; this lies with the Environment Agency and the water companies. The review group gathered evidence from a variety of sources and stakeholders over a four months earlier this year to get a better understanding of the current health of Buckinghamshire’s waterways and to see how potential problems and concerns can be addressed.
The main findings of the report that was presented to Cabinet are:
- the water industry is the single biggest contributor towards poor water quality in the Thames basin. Five of Buckinghamshire’s chalk streams have sewage treatment works discharging treated effluent into them
- Buckinghamshire’s chalk streams are being polluted by surface water that runs off local roads, carrying pollutants directly into watercourses. These pollutants include decomposing plant and animal matter (humus) and by-products from vehicles such as hydrocarbons, oil, brake dust, tyre fragments, hydraulic fluids, and anti-freeze
- Buckinghamshire sits across three geographical areas of the Environment Agency meaning it can be extremely challenging for even the council to locate the correct contacts within the Environment Agency with whom to raise queries or concerns, particularly where water quality and contamination is concerned
- Buckinghamshire residents could benefit from more information about who to contact in the event of a water pollution incident
- the Rivers Trust, an umbrella group working to improve water quality and advise landowners, currently has no representation in the Great Ouse area
- there are separate improvement programmes being run by water companies in Buckinghamshire (such as the Thames Water Smarter Water Catchment Programme for the River Chess and Anglian Water separately investing in separate schemes to restore river habitats and improve biodiversity) – but other local catchments would benefit from this work being further expanded in Buckinghamshire
The Cabinet accepted all of the recommendations in this report including:
- asking Anglian Water and Thames Water to submit annual reports to the council on progress in reducing discharges into the water course and improvements to infrastructure in Buckinghamshire
- the Leader of the Council writing to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs over the council’s concerns with the Environment Agency about lack of engagement, the discharge of its statutory functions and its conduct
Councillor Robert Carington is Vice-Chair of the Select Committee and led the review said, “This has been a very important piece of work; it was key that we looked closely at the current arrangements and situation in Buckinghamshire to determine what the council itself can do to hold water companies and the Environment Agency to account. Our job has been to examine this issue very closely and to pull this work into one place; I’m very grateful to Members and officers for their time in getting us to a stage where we can make clear recommendations to the council.”
The full report into pollution in Buckinghamshire’s waterways can be found here:
