Bathing water quality signs should be paid for by the Environment Agency, council leader says

Councillor Alex Rennie, leader of Havant Borough Council, has written an open letter to Sir James Bevan, the chief executive of the Environment Agency (EA). In the letter, he urges the EA to install a daily water quality prediction system as seen in Scotland. The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) provides electric signs at 31 bathing sites across Scotland, giving beachgoers real-time information on water quality and stormwater sewage discharges.

In the letter he says he welcomes recent announcements by water companies to ‘clean up their act’ with ‘record investments’ in infrastructure.

‘However, like all infrastructure investments, these changes will take time,’ he added.

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‘In the meantime, we have to deal with the reality of stormwater sewage discharges. Whilst there are warnings issued by our water companies, it is falling upon local authorities to warn bathers about entering the water. Councils can do this by signposting to data published by both water companies and the Environment Agency.

‘However, there is a better solution. Electronic signage has been installed by the Environment Agency’s counterpart in Scotland for over a decade.

‘The Environment Agency can show real leadership by making a similar commitment to deliver electronic signage in England. Using data and computer modelling it is in a position to deliver a solution that local authorities in England will find difficult to achieve due to the access to modelling data and capability.

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‘Public expectation is rightly for more action to better inform those using our bathing waters and we call upon the Environment Agency to follow the lead of SEPA to install electronic signage in England.

‘Residents are rightly becoming far more conscious of the issue of water quality. The performance of our water companies in improving our sewage system over the last 20 years has simply not been good enough.’

The letter was co-signed by five other English council leaders from Cornwall, Wiltshire, Devon and Shropshire. The letter was also signed by two Conservative group leaders and the director of Conservative Friends of the Ocean. Sir James Bevan is expected to respond to the letter by July 8.