Agenda item

Please note that as set out in Chapter 2, section 14.11 of the Constitution the time limit for debating all motions is limited to 30 minutes.

The following notice of motion has been proposed by Cllr H Blathwayt, seconded by Cllr A Varley:

Motion: Clean Water – Clean up Your Act

North Norfolk District Council is concerned about the water quality and pollution of our beaches and waterways. This Council cares about ensuring the highest levels of water quality and seeks to hold Anglian Water and the Environment Agency (EA) to account.

We therefore propose the following:

That the Leader

1)    writes to the Chief Executive of Anglia Water requesting:

a)    Confirmation of when all combined sewage outflows (CSO) in North Norfolk will have working monitoring equipment in place

b)    The reporting of CSO discharges on a quarterly basis to the Council

c)    A detailed investment allocation plan for North Norfolk

2)    writes to the Environment Agency (EA) requesting:

a)    Greater transparency on their water quality readings

b)    A guarantee that regular E. Coli testing will be undertaken & increased.

c)    A guarantee that reactive DNA testing be undertaken

d)    Information relating to collaborative works with agriculture partners

3)    That the Council undertakes discussions with Anglian Water and the Environment Agency to ensure that there is a review of the actions taken following the 19^th March incident in Mundesley.

4)    That the Leader writes to the Secretary of State for the Environment requesting that funding to the EA is increased.

Proposed: Cllr. Harry Blathwayt

Seconded: Cllr. Adam Varley

The following Notice of Motion had been proposed by Cllr H Blathwayt and seconded by Cllr A Varley: Motion:

‘North Norfolk District Council is concerned about the water quality and pollution of our beaches and waterways. This Council cares about ensuring the highest levels of water quality and seeks to hold Anglian Water and the Environment Agency (EA) to account.

We therefore recommend the following

That the Leader

1)    writes to the Chief Executive of Anglia Water requesting:

a)    Confirmation of when all combined sewage outflows (CSO) in North Norfolk will have working monitoring equipment in place

b)    The reporting of CSO discharges on a quarterly basis to the Council

c)    A detailed investment allocation plan for North Norfolk

2)    writes to the Environment Agency (EA) requesting:

a)    Greater transparency on their water quality readings

b)    A guarantee that regular E. Coli testing will be undertaken & increased.

c)    A guarantee that reactive DNA testing be undertaken

d)    Information relating to collaborative works with agriculture partners

That the Council undertakes discussions with Anglian Water and the Environment Agency to ensure that there is a review of the actions taken following the 19^th March incident in Mundesley

That the Leader writes to the Secretary of State for the Environment requesting that funding to the EA is increased.’

The Chairman invited Cllr Blathwayt to introduce the motion. He began by saying that he welcomed the following amendment proposed by Cllr N Dixon, seconded by Cllr V Holliday

‘The Leader of the Council to write to the relevant Secretary of State to request a Minister for the Coast to be appointed, who will help tackle the environmental challenges of water pollution for our coastal communities’.

Cllr Blathwayt said that the amendment supported the ongoing drive for a Ministry for the Coast and added that since the original motion had been submitted there had been a meeting of the LGA Coastal Special Interest Group (SIG) Water Quality working group. This was a country-wide group and all of the members of this SIG supported the aims of the motion. He thanked Sally-Ann Hind MP for her efforts and lobbying for a Ministry for the Coast and local MPs for their support.

Cllr Blathwayt said that the motion was important for the District’s tourism sector and the shellfish industry. Good water quality was imperative and he hoped all members would support the motion. The seconder of the motion. Cllr Varley, reserved his right to speak.

The Chairman opened the debate:

Cllr A Fitch-Tillett said that she wished to propose a further amendment that Norfolk County Council should also be included as the body responsible for surface water drainage. She said that a written request should be made to NCC that they should liaise with Anglian Water on working together to address the issues presented by surface water drainage mixing with sewage following storm events. Cllr Blathwayt and Cllr Varley confirmed that they would accept the amendment.

Cllr N Housden said that Anglian Water had a poor record for water pollution and he raised concerns about the impact of such pollution on rivers, in particular the Wensum, which was a chalk stream. He suggested that any monitoring reports on water quality should include the River Wensum. He added that Item 1 ( c ) was not definitive enough. The request for a detailed investment allocation plan for AW should be more specific.

The Chairman advised members that amendments should be submitted in advance of the meeting in future.

Cllr Blathwayt said that the River Wensum was a separate subject and this motion focussed on coastal waters. He acknowledged that AW were facing financial challenges at the moment and were currently struggling to address some of the issues highlighted in the motion. Consequently, the Coastal SIG had supported the view that fines imposed on water companies for causing pollution should be higher than the cost of the project so that there was a clear disincentive to continue to pollute waters.

Cllr K Toye said that as a coastal member, she welcomed the motion. Water quality was a  continual problem and she was regularly contacted by residents about their concerns. Local people and tourists needed to be assured that sea water was safe.

Cllr N Dixon began by expressing his gratitude to the proposer and seconder for accepting the amendment. He said that he believed it added value to a sound motion. He welcomed a joined up approach between national and local government on an issue.

Cllr S Penfold said that he supported the substantive motion and it was important to work across authorities and with other councils. He said that NCC had recently unanimously supported the creation of a Ministry for the Coast.

The Leader, Cllr Adams, said that there was a bigger picture here in terms of climate change and there was a need to understand what was happening regarding increased rainfall. In addition, the testing regime had been decimated in recent years and the proposals for increased funding would help support this. He said that it was possible that the Blue Flag at East Runton may be regained in the future but this relied on regular, reliable testing. He added that the EA were still unable to determine the cause of the pollution at Mundesley and this was a key issue if pollution was to be addressed effectively.

Cllr M Taylor said that he supported the motion and said that it was an important issue for many residents and business owners. He said that Duncan Baker MP was continuing to press for the reinstatement of the District’s blue flags.

Cllr L Withington asked whether DNA testing was necessary to establish the cause of any pollution. This was confirmed. She then referred to the request for a detailed allocation plan for North Norfolk and said that water companies were allocated a certain amount of investment that they could spend up to. Many companies, including AW, often spent well below this amount and she said that it would be beneficial to understand how much of the official allocation AW were spending.

Cllr W Fredericks said that she echoed what had already been said about the Blue Flags, adding that the water that had been tested had been collected almost a year after the incident so any diagnosis was just conjecture. She said that she would support the motion.

Cllr P Heinrich agreed that it was important to know the level of investment allocated and spent by AW. He referred to the impact in North Walsham on the pumping station.

Cllr J Toye commented that the information that was requested was shared with the appropriate committee.

Cllr A Brown thanked members for working together on the motion. He said he had some concerns about EA and AW being ‘grouped’ together within the motion, citing a substantial increase in pollution incidents by AW from 14% in 2016 to 29% in 2021. He went onto say that the EA had been subject to quite sever funding cuts in recent years and he was concerned about their capacity to carry out additional assessments.

Cllr N Housden commented on Cllr Withington’s point and said that it would be helpful to have clarification on the capping process when written contact was made with AW.

Cllr N Dixon sought clarification on the meaning of ‘reactive DNA testing’. Cllr Adams confirmed that it was considered to be reactive when an adverse result was achieved.

Cllr A Varley then spoke as seconded of the motion. He thanked all members for their contributions and opposition members for engaging fully and in a positive way. He said that it was imperative that AW put fundamental measures in place to address the concerns of local resident and tourists about the safety of the water. He said that AW needed to put fundamental measures in place to effectively monitor combined sewage outflows (CSOs). He went onto say that it was fundamental that AW provided a detailed allocation investment plan for North Norfolk. In conclusion, Cllr Varley said that the key was the need to lobby Government to ensure that sufficient funding was provided to EA to ensure that they could undertake their work effectively and enable them to address the increasing number of significant events that were being caused by climate change.

Cllr Blathwayt said that he had nothing further to add.

It was proposed by Cllr H Blathwayt, Seconded by Cllr A Varley and

RESOLVED unanimously

3)    Request the Leader of the Council write to the Chief Executive of Anglia Water and request the following:

d)    Confirmation of when all combined sewage outflows (CSO) in North Norfolk will have monitoring equipment in place and in operation

e)    The reporting of CSO discharges on a quarterly basis to the Council.

f)     A detailed investment allocation plan for North Norfolk

4)    Request the Leader of the Council write to the Environment Agency and request the following:

e)    Greater transparency on their water quality readings

f)     A guarantee that regular E. Coli testing will be undertaken & increased.

g)    A guarantee that reactive DNA testing be undertaken

h)    Information relating to collaborative works with agriculture partners

5)    Request the Council undertake discussions with both Anglian Water and the Environment Agency to ensure that there is a review of the actions undertaken from the 19^th March incident.

6)    The Leader of the Council to write to the Secretary of State for the Environment to request that funding to the Environment Agency is increased.

7)    The Leader of the Council to write to the relevant Secretary of State to request a Minister for the Coast to be appointed, who will help tackle the environmental challenges of water pollution for our coastal communities.

8)    The Leader of the Council to write to Norfolk County Council to request that  they liaise with Anglian Water on working together to address the issues presented by surface water drainage mixing with sewage following storm events