First outdoor pickleball courts open in Milford Haven
Welsh Water fined £1.35m for widespread sewage permit breaches
DŴR CYMRU Welsh Water has been fined £1.35 million and ordered to pay more than £70,000 in costs after pleading guilty to more than 800 breaches of its environmental permits to discharge sewage.
The breaches, spanning hundreds of sites across Wales and Herefordshire, were identified through the company's own self-monitoring data submitted to Natural Resources Wales (NRW) for the years 2020 and 2021.
Due to the sheer volume of non-compliances, the breaches were consolidated into 18 charges for the purpose of court proceedings. The company admitted guilt to 15 of these offences at Llandudno Magistrates' Court on October 16, 2024, and accepted the remaining offences as Taken Into Consideration (TICs) in December.
A protest is scheduled to take place at Broad Haven on Saturday (Pic: Herald)
Since 2010, water companies have been required to carry out self-monitoring of effluent discharges from sewage and water treatment works. NRW said it became concerned when the 2020 report from Welsh Water showed a sharp decline in the quality of monitoring data, revealing over 600 breaches at around 300 sites.
In court, Welsh Water blamed internal restructuring, IT scheduling failures, and the disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic for the deterioration in compliance. Although the situation improved in 2021, further non-compliances were recorded.
NRW said contingency plans should have been in place to prevent such a large-scale failure, regardless of internal changes or external pressures. The regulator was unable to fully assess potential environmental harm due to missing data in 2020, but warned that the cumulative impact of hundreds of breaches could be significant.
Siân Williams, Head of Operations at NRW, said: 'This case highlights serious inadequacies in Dŵr Cymru's systems, which led to widespread breaches of environmental permits. While we understand the challenges presented by the pandemic, the company's failings were avoidable had proper contingency planning been in place.'
She added that Welsh Water's environmental performance has steadily declined in recent years. The company was downgraded from a four-star 'industry leading' rating in 2020 to two-star 'requires improvement' status in both 2022 and 2023.
In 2023, the utility recorded its worst-ever performance, with a rise in major pollution incidents and a fall in the number of incidents it self-reported.
The breaches prosecuted in this case are separate from those included in NRW's annual Environmental Performance Assessment (EPA) but are part of wider concerns over Welsh Water's compliance.
Ms Williams said: 'The court's decision follows a complex investigation, and I'd like to thank our regulatory teams for their diligence. We are increasing our compliance monitoring efforts across Wales and will not hesitate to take enforcement action when necessary.'
NRW says it has stepped up audits of Welsh Water's self-monitoring activities as part of a wider crackdown on poor water quality across Wales.
A Welsh Water spokesperson said: 'Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water has a strong record of compliance with our monitoring obligations prior to and after the period relevant to this matter.
'A combination of factors impacted our work during 2020-21 that included the COVID 19 pandemic. Despite this we met our monitoring requirements, which involve more than 18,000 tests per year, 98.95% of the time in 2020 and 99.45% in 2021.
'No sites were left unmonitored during this time, but the unique circumstances during 2020/21 caused significant challenges and disruption to our operations.
'There has been no identified environmental harm associated with this case and the monitoring failures represent a very small number of examples in a programme involving tens of thousands of submissions each year. Nonetheless, we recognise that our compliance fell short during 2020/21 and we entered a guilty plea at the earliest opportunity.
'Welsh Water will continue to work closely with our regulators to ensure that we deliver on our two main priorities, the best possible service to our customers and protecting the environment.'
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Daily Record
an hour ago
- Daily Record
Greece panic as tourists abandon one of its 'most popular' islands
For the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic, Santorini is experiencing a decline in tourists. For the first time since the Covid-19 pandemic, Santorini is witnessing a drop in tourists. Unlike previous years, visitors to one of Greece's most popular islands are not finding themselves amidst dense crowds, but instead Fira's main street is largely deserted. Earlier this year, earthquake activity on Santorini has put off many international visitors from choosing it as their holiday destination. While arrivals have been on the rise in recent weeks, the numbers are significantly lower than the peaks seen in past years. According to Yannis Paraschis, president of the Association of Greek Tourism Enterprises (SETE), "available airline seats are down 26% from the beginning of the year to date. But the indications we have in terms of supply of seats are down in the range of 7%-8% for the summer, so we expect a result with losses of 10%-15%". Antonis Pagoni, the president of the Santorini hoteliers, told Euronews he anticipates a continued decline in tourist traffic and warned that the effects will ripple through the entire Greek economy, reports the Express. "The president of SETE talked about airport arrivals," he added, "but I will unfortunately say that overall arrivals will be down about 20%-25%. Right now we are moving at -25% to -30%. It's a huge reduction in a destination like Santorini that attracts more than 3 million visitors. You know, it's 10% of Greek tourism. We are not sure if Greece can afford to lose that revenue." Currently, hotels are slashing room prices to entice last-minute holidaymakers. The global cost-of-living crisis is also leaving its mark on Santorini. This season, tourists are tightening their belts, resulting in fewer hotel reservations and a downturn for local enterprises dependent on tourism, as visitors cut back on expenditure for dining and keepsakes. Nonetheless, the allure of Santorini remains undiminished, with three cruise liners docking daily, each delivering thousands keen to discover the island's marvels. The impending cruise tax, set to be implemented from July, is not anticipated to deter this year's influx of cruise visitors. In the midst of these developments, Santorini's mayor, Nikos Zorzos, has underscored the urgency for a "saturation law" on the island, contending that there is no need for additional lodgings. "Santorini does not need any more beds. I say this with great certainty, with as much certainty as I know that my name is Nikos," he declared. He is advocating for governmental support to enhance public infrastructure, highlighting that Santorini has made substantial contributions to the national treasury without seeing proportional benefits in return. British tourists travelling to Greece this summer have been warned of the penalties for drug smuggling after the Foreign Office updated its travel guidance for the popular holiday hotspot. Greek travellers are being made aware of improved scanning technology which is now being used at several airports across the country ahead of the holiday season.
Press and Journal
3 hours ago
- Press and Journal
Aberdeen safety firm eyes £1m milestone as global growth accelerates
An Aberdeen process safety engineer who 'always wanted to start his own business' is now leading a fast-growing company with clients across four continents and a £1 million turnover in sight. David Jamieson founded Salus Technical six years ago after leaving his role at energy giant Equinor. The 38-year-old has went on grow the business to 11 employees, more than doubling headcount in the past year. Salus Technical now works with 80 software clients in Australia, New Zealand, Canada, the US and South America, and has supported around 30 engineering companies in the UK. David has described his journey as 'fantastic' so far, despite being faced with challenges. Salus Technical, based at Neo House, was founded just a few months before Covid hit. David said: 'Our target this year is to reach £1 million and if you look at our past six months we are well on for that. 'I've always wanted to start my own business, I really loved the idea that you could just make a business up yourself. 'I worked as a process safety engineer for many years, and decided it was an area I could deliver on and thought it was worthwhile. 'It's been really difficult, because probably every single year I've been in business, there's been some sort of challenge to overcome. 'We were only four months old when Covid happened, so all our projects got cancelled, and the company making our software weren't able to support us anymore, so we had to press the restart button again. 'Even other things like, the change of government last year and the budget really slowed down a lot of things.' David plans to keep developing the business and what it offers. He said: 'We're at a million pounds, and that's half and half with engineering and software, so I would really like to get that software revenue on its own over the million pound mark. 'We're trying to improve our products so it appeals to a lot more industries and looking at what new software products we can build as well. 'That's the direction that we're trying to go, but we still want to maintain our engineering and services that we do very much here in the north-east. 'There's a lot of the challenges in the UK energy sector but we're obviously still proud to support UK oil and gas. 'Ultimately, all I want to do is grow my business.' David took part in Opportunity North East's (One) business growth programme with a focus on insights into scaling marketing and funding. Entrepreneurs and founders also gained direct access to investors, sector leaders and international market opportunities. He said: 'The One business growth programme was very helpful. 'Speaking to other founders you find out that everyone has got similar issues and problems so it's good to share stories. 'The mentoring programme was also instrumental and transformative. It helped me as a founder to strategise better and make better decisions.'
The Independent
4 hours ago
- The Independent
What is a digital nomad visa, and how do I get one? The rise of ‘workcations' around the world
It has never been easier to clock in to your job from anywhere, with working from home normalised since the pandemic and meetings migrating from the office to Zoom calls. The dawn of the digital work has meant you can set up your workspace in any location, even if that means on the other side of the world. Digital nomad visas allow people to do just that, giving workers a chance to do their job on their laptops from another country and explore communities, cultural landmarks and natural landscapes while they're at it. In 2020, Covid meant that it wasn't possible to travel the world, tick off bucket-list mountain peaks, relax on a remote beach or meet new people in buzzing cities. But the world 2025 looks very different, with ample opportunity to explore. After the UK left the European Union in 2020, the right to work and live in other European countries was swept away. While a deal is being processed for young workers to gain back this benefit, for others who are over 30 or have their sights set a bit further afield, digital nomad visas unlock the chance to stay in a country longer than a tourist, while still earning money. We've rounded up what we know about digital nomad visas and which countries offer the best ones. What is a digital nomad visa? A digital nomad visa is a temporary permit that allows people who work remotely to move to a different country to live and work. Digital nomads refer to people who do not have a requirement to work from an office or a certain place, meaning they are free to work wherever they want to in the world. The type of work usually requires people to have a job that centres around technology, using a laptop and phone to keep in contact with colleagues or clients. Some countries allow those working for a foreign employer and people who are self-employed or manage their own business to benefit from this visa, even including students who want to work remotely for a year. The digital nomad visa often has a longer validity than a tourist visa, meaning the holder can usually stay for months or even years in certain areas. The visas remain valid from as little as six months, such as in Japan, up to five years, like in Thailand. However, these visas are not typically permanent, meaning that once the permit runs out, remote workers have to leave the country or renew it to stay. What are the requirements for a digital nomad visa? Requirements vary from country to country, but generally the person has to be over 18, earn a certain monthly income, and have a job they can do from anywhere. Some countries only allow higher earners to apply for their visa, such as South Korea, where a minimum income of around £54k is required. Countries like Malaysia open up their visas at less than half of this at £25k. Health insurance and a clean criminal record are also often requirements during the visa application. The visa holders cannot already be employed by a company in the host country, or provide goods and services to businesses there. Usually, you have to be self-employed or work for a foreign employer. Some countries will also only allow people from certain nationalities to apply for their digital nomad visa. Why has there been a rise in digital nomad visas? While the concept is not new, more countries, such as the Philippines and New Zealand, have recently announced they will be introducing digital nomad visas. One of the main motivations is to boost tourism by allowing people to stay longer in the country, promoting slower travel and exploring areas in depth. Relaxing the limits on duration of stay means more money will be spent and tourism-based jobs are more secure, especially in shoulder seasons. The introduction of the visa is also a representation of how countries are adapting to fit the modern digital age. As jobs are increasingly becoming digitised and more people work from home since the pandemic, employees have more flexibility than ever before to travel the world. The demand for digital nomad visas among workers has risen due to the desire to travel without having to rely on annual leave to visit different countries. Alongside exploring new places, immersing in nature or visiting bustling cities, the low cost of living in certain countries is also attractive for digital nomads, allowing their income to become more fulfilling while keeping daily costs low. Many countries also allow partners or children to be added to applications, making the opportunity to live in another country as a family more accessible. Tax exemptions and breaks are also important driving points. For example, in Spain digital nomads pay a flat rate of tax at 24 per cent, no matter their salary (up to €600,000). Over in New Zealand, authorities said that if the person's income is taxed elsewhere, they will be exempt from tax so long as they do not spend more than 92 days in the country within 12 months. The days do not need to be consecutive. Which countries offer digital nomad visas? There are well over 50 countries that offer digital nomad visas to UK citizens, so it all depends on whether you are seeking a retreat tucked away on a remote mountain or a temporary home in a bustling city. A report by Global Citizen Solutions, a boutique investment migration firm, found that 63 per cent of digital nomads come from the 'Global North', which encompasses countries such as the UK, USA, Canada, Germany and the Netherlands. The firm analysed 65 different visas, including digital nomad visas and other long-term visas that allow people to work remotely in the country. It found that Spain's digital nomad visa ranked the best, due to the country's high quality of life, internet speed and benefits such as a year-long duration and ability to renew. Estonia, Romania, Malta, Portugal, Canada and Hungary also appeared in the top 10 for their digital nomad visas, while the Netherlands, Norway and France secured spots for visas that make it easy to work in the country. Other countries that offer digital nomad visas include a freelance-only one in Germany, Italy, Greece, Taiwan, Latvia, Malaysia, Japan, the UAE (specifically Dubai and Abu Dhabi), South Korea, New Zealand and Thailand, to name just a few. The Global Citizen Solutions report found that European countries had some of the best digital nomad visas. Meanwhile, the Caribbean had some of the greatest income requirements and visa costs, reaching as high as £1,477.
