Sewage scheme is unacceptable

AT Arun District Council's performance scrutiny committee meeting on July 28, Southern Water stated that pumping sewage into the sea could be an option to overcome flooding problems at Elmer Sands '“ a private estate on the coastline directly between Bognor Regis and Littlehampton.
By The Newsroom
Published 20th Aug 2009, 14:14 BST
Updated 8th Jun 2018, 00:51 BST

I believe that this solution is totally unacceptable, both on environmental and public health grounds.

The solution proposed by Southern Water is, I believe, a licence to legally pollute the sea, whilst doing nothing to solve the problem.

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The company proposes to make the houses that flood more resilient to flooding and to request permission from the Environment Agency to temporarily release the sewage into the rife when the pumps fail. How long would that be for? We have been reporting this problem for 25 years and still nothing has been achieved.

In times of flooding it would protect the bricks and mortar, but still leave adults, children and animals wading about in sewage.

At other times it would mean polluting the rife and the sea. The reality, however, for most of the time would be raw sewage being

discharged into the shallows and onto the beach.

Southern Water said it would cost 1.7m to put a new pipe in from Elmer to its treatment works at Ford. However, OFWAT's economic formula would make that option too expensive. When prompted by Arun councillor Paul English, Southern Water admitted that it had not included the loss of tourism into the equation! What price Blue Flag status for our beaches?

Linda Smith

Arundel Way

Elmer Sands

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Related topics:Southern WaterArun District CouncilBognor RegisEnvironment Agency