I recently made a return visit to Mothecombe Beach at the Flete Estate to meet up with a constituent who is concerned about the water quality of the River Erme.
I know a lot of work has already been done within the community to tackle this and that an application has been made to see Coastguards Beach designated as bathing waters. Current MP, Sir Gary Streeter was able to support this campaign and I know everyone involved (including me!) is eagerly awaiting the result of the application later in the year.
However, it has also come to my attention that there are concerns about the South West Water (SWW) sewage works at Ivybridge and the impact this may be having on water quality in the Erme. As a result, I have asked SWW if I can visit the Ivybridge sewage works to find out more.
Living here, I am well aware of the popularity of sea swimming and enjoyed chatting with some swimmers on the beach when I was there. Whilst I'm not personally a big fan of swimming (!), I am committed to ensuring that those who are get to swim in clean water and will do all I can to campaign for this.
It is worth bearing in mind that in 2010, only 7% of storm overflows in England were monitored. Now every storm overflow is monitored which means we can tackle illegal discharges and hold water companies to account in ways we couldn't before.
