14 hours ago
Cornwall MP's 'final warning' to South West Water boss over sewage pollution
A Cornwall MP says he has become so frustrated with sewage pollution, he has put the Chief Executive of South West Water on what he has described as "resignation watch".
Noah Law, the MP for Newquay and St Austell, has said he is issuing a 'final warning' to Susan Davy, calling for her to take immediate action to upgrade the region's sewage treatment infrastructure.
South West Water has responded that it has a 15-year delivery programme to reduce its use of storm overflows across its network and redesign its infrastructure - but it also says that work of that scale takes time.
Speaking to ITV News West Country in Pentewan, the MP said: "The sense of urgency just isn't there from South West Water.
"Getting detail on the timeframes around this infrastructure upgrade has been like drawing blood from a stone and I want them to be extremely transparent with the public as to when they can expect to see some of that change which we've fought so hard for in Government and through the Water Special Measures Act.''
He added: "I'm pressing really hard to get that information on just when we are going to see those upgrades. A five-year timeframe isn't good enough, people want to see action now."
According to South West Water's own figures, there were 134 spills from the water treatment works in Pentewan last year.
Elsewhere in the region, MP for Taunton and Wellington Gideon Amos carried out water testing on the River Tone in a designated bathing water spot.
The result was a reading of 'poor' quality and the MP says water companies should be making cleaner rivers a priority.
The boss of Pennon Group and South West Water CEO, Susan Davy, received a total pay package of more than £800,000 in 2023-24, including almost 200,000 in long-term share awards.
Meanwhile, customers' yearly bills rose by around a third from April this year.
A spokesperson for Pennon said: "We run critical national infrastructure and have embarked on our largest ever investment programme across our Group - £3.2bn - which spans from Cornwall to Surrey - 11 of these major projects are in Mr Law's constituency.
"We are prioritising our investment on what customers have told us are most important to them and to help us deliver on what we promised; to reduce the use of storm overflows, ensuring water resilience and supply, investing in vital infrastructure, supporting customers more than ever and taking a green first approach to our solutions as much as possible."
They added: "We live and work in this region and care deeply about what we all do every single day – we are also customers of South West Water. "Our 4,000 brilliant colleagues work hard day and night to keep taps running and toilets flushing, we will not stop and we will continue to deliver on our promises."
