Urgent action needed over sewage pollution in river

There are calls for a more ambitious approach to tackle pollution

Urgent action is needed to tackle untreated sewage entering the River Frome, according to councillors in South Gloucestershire.

Sewage can enter the river through storm overflows during periods of heavy rainfall causing pollution and damage to wildlife.

Suggestions including asking the government for more cash to tackle the problem or getting a regulator.

Councillors disagreed on the best approach at a full council meeting.

A motion was put forward by Liberal Democrat councillor Jon Lean, who said the government must be more ambitious, the the Local Democracy Reporting Service. wrote.

He urged the government to enact Schedule 3 of the Flood and Water Management Act which would mean a new regulator being responsible for approving new connections of surface water drainage to the public sewer - in a bid to stop property developers from installing inadequate drainage systems.

Mr Lean said: "Sewage discharge in our rivers primarily happens when storm overflows operate, when large volumes of rainwater and agricultural run-off enter the sewer network through the surface water drainage system.

"Schedule 3 is an important piece of legislation which would enforce the use of sustainable drainage and keep storm water out of our sewers.

"The local Conservative group say that storm overflows have no place in the 21st century, but they also support a government plan that seeks to manage storm overflow discharges until at least 2050.

"If we're truly going to get rid of storm overflows, that plan needs to be far more ambitious."

'More ambitious'

Council chiefs said much work was already taking place.

The motion was amended by Conservative councillors, who said the authority should set up a new scrutiny committee to explore the issue.

Tory council leader Toby Savage said: "The original motion submitted by the Liberal Democrats on storm overflows was very poorly worded and contained ambitions beyond the council's direct control.

"We tabled an amendment to ask that a special scrutiny committee be established to look at the issue in more detail and to produce some achievable actions.

"Wessex Water have set out a number of improvements they intend to make to the local water network, including a 25 per cent reduction in the number of hours of storm overflow discharges by 2025."

He said upgrades are planned at discharge locations at Winterbourne, Frampton Cotterell, Doynton and others.

Additional reporting by Emma Elgee

Follow BBC West on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram. Send your story ideas to: [e-mail]