Winchester City Council pass Green Party Cllr. Malcolm Wallace’s proposal
At the Winchester City Council meeting earlier this week (06-July) Councillors voted to improve protections on our local rivers and waterways by taking account of the cumulative impact of pollution.
In a first for Winchester, Green Councillor Malcolm Wallace proposed a motion to address this issue, then worked collaboratively with Liberal Democrat and Conservative colleagues to finalise the motion, which was then unanimously agreed by the Council. The motion means that, amongst other actions, planning applications for major developments should now include the effect on watercourses in their assessments.
Malcolm Wallace, who is Green Party councillor for Central Meon Valley, said: “Winchester district residents are deeply concerned about water quality. The build-up of sewage, agricultural waste and plastic is polluting the waters of many of our rivers and waterways. Not a single river in our District has received a clean bill of health for chemical contamination and yet water companies appear to be dumping untreated or partially treated sewage in rivers on a regular basis. Although there are long term commitments, there are no plans in place which will address the immediate unacceptable situation either locally by Southern Water or by national government.”
“It is beyond the authority of Winchester Council to resolve these issues in their entirety, however by enforcing a review of the potential for new developments to affect sewage outflow into watercourses, this motion is aimed at stopping the problem from getting any worse. Without action, the increasing levels of untreated sewage will continue to damage not only human health but natural habitats and local wildlife.”
Notes
Contact: Cllr Malcolm Wallace, mwallace@winchester.gov.uk, 07739 050224 Malcolm is available for interview and to provide further information on this
pioneering approach to making Water companies and developers come clean on the impact of new developments on sewage discharges into local rivers and waterways.[1] Full motion approved by Winchester City Council, see Agenda for Council on
Wednesday, 6th July, 2022, 7.00 pm – Winchester City Council
[2] Data from The Rivers Trust show that Southern Water discharged sewage into
rivers and waterways in the Winchester district over 250 times in 2021, totalling over 3,500 hours of sewage discharge in just one year
[3] Malcolm Wallace was elected in May 2022 and is the first Green Party Councillor on Winchester City Council.
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