Following reports that storm overflows had recently been discharging into the waters off Southend and Leigh-on-Sea, MP Anna Firth arranged an urgent meeting with CEO of Anglian Water Peter Simpson to hold the water company to account.
Firth was delighted to receive reassurances from Simpson that Southend’s beaches are safe to swim off, news that was well received by local residents.
The Environment Agency rates the water quality at Leigh-on-Sea, Chalkwell and Westcliff as good or excellent, and Simpson confirmed that the use of the overflows earlier in the week would have no effect on the quality of the water this weekend.
Earlier in the day, Firth had spoken with representatives from the Blue Tits Chill Swimmers group, who had raised their concerns about the recent use of storm overflows in Southend. following her meeting with Anglian Water, the MP was able to reassure them and their members that Southend’s beaches are clean and safe.
Firth has been continuing her tireless campaign to improve Southend’s water quality and reduce the use of storm overflows in recent months.
At the end of March, Firth held a major water summit, bringing together Anglian Water, Ofwat, the Environment Agency, Surfers Against Sewage and representatives from Southend’s swimming and sailing clubs.
Firth is holding a follow-up meeting on 28th July to hold Anglian Water to account on the pledges they made in March. This public meeting will be held at Southend’s Sealife Adventure attraction, and the MP is encouraging all interested parties to come along to the meeting.
Earlier in the week, the Southend West MP met with the Secretary of State for the Environment, Therese Coffey, to discuss what improvements were being made to Southend’s water quality, and pushed for this to be done as quickly as possible.
As part of the Conservative Government’s Environment Act 2021, all water companies in the UK were required to submit a ‘Storm Overflow Reduction Plan’ by the end of June 2023. The Southend West MP has been in constant contact with DEFRA and Anglian Water to ensure that this was submitted. On Thursday 6th July, Firth pressed DEFRA Ministers in the House of Commons on whether Anglian Water had submitted their ‘Storm Overflow Reduction Plan’ on time.
Firth was pleased to hear that this plan had been submitted on time. In her meeting with Peter Simpson, Anna received assurances that she would have sight of the plan ahead of her July 28th meeting so that she and her constituent’s can question Anglian Water on its contents.
Anna Firth is also working with Anglian Water and Southend City Council to produce a cohesive localised storm reduction plan focused not just on eliminating the use of storm overflows, but also improving drainage, reducing water run-off from driveways and roads and eliminating the use of non-flushable wet-wipes. Firth is working closely with the Government to ban plastic wet-wipes, which block sewers and often end up in rivers.
Commenting, Anna said:
When I received the alerts that storm overflows were being used in Southend, I was absolutely horrified. People flock to our sea-side city throughout the summer to swim, and a huge number of our local businesses rely on people coming to visit our beautiful beaches for their livelihoods. With a hot weekend ahead of us, it would have been absolutely disastrous if our water was not safe to swim in.
I immediately organised a meeting with Anglian Water’s CEO Peter Simpson to seek reassurances that our beaches are safe, and I am pleased that he has confirmed that none of our beaches are affected by the use of storm overflows earlier this week.
This will be a welcome relief, and people will be able to swim confidently and safely from our beautiful beaches.
Improving our water quality is an absolute priority for me, and something I am working incredibly hard on. Only this week, I met with the Secretary of State for Environment to discuss how we can make improvements, and I raised the issue on the House of Commons Chamber on Thursday.
I am pleased that Anglian Water has submitted their Storm Overflow Reduction Plan to the Government, and that this is being analysed. I look forward to discussing this in depth with Anglian Water and residents.
Following the success of the summit I held at the end of March, I am hosting another water quality summit on July 28th. This is a public meeting which will be held at Sealife Adventure, and will bring together residents, swimming groups such as the Blue Tits, Southend Against Sewage to allow them to hold Anglian Water, Ofwat and the Environment Agency to account.
I hope as many people as possible can come along to this meeting – please do email me to let me know that you will be there!
CEO of Anglian Water Peter Simpson added:
Following our conversation earlier I'm happy to confirm that currently none of our assets/storm overflows in the city are adversely affecting Southend's beaches and bathing waters. Any impact from rainfall or storms earlier this week has dispersed.
