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Paddle Out protest planned for Ryde today
Isle of Wight campaigners will gather in Ryde today (Saturday), as part of the Surfers Against Sewage Paddle Out protest – one of about 12 scheduled to take place around the country.
Organisers said: “Last year we saw our Island beaches feature 12 of the 83 worst sewage discharges in bathing waters and yet the Southern Water CEO took home £966,800 in bonuses.
“Southern Water, through the Pathfinder project, has a number of plans to ‘reduce’ sewage overflows, but we need to hold them to account. Let’s be a fantastic community that works together with all stakeholders to #endsewagepollution and be able to enjoy our blue spaces come rain or shine, all year round.”
Scroll down for Southern Water’s statement…
Appley Beach, Ryde, Isle of Wight. (Image: County Press.)
The Isle of Wight is at the forefront of the Pathfinder scheme – one of six in the country – which Southern Water says means it plans to use innovative engineering and nature-based solutions to slow the flow of surface water, created when heavy rain falls, into the sewer network.
The aim is to stop the sewers becoming overwhelmed, which means storm overflows are pumped into the sea.
Due for completion in 2025, the project has already seen a water butt trial in Havenstreet. In Gurnard and Northwood, 1,000 homes with roof drainage that empties into the sewer system have been offered a slow-drain water butt.
Government targets mean Southern Water has to ensure storm overflows have no more than ten spills on average, per year, by 2050.
Speakng in March, Southern Water’s chief customer officer, Katy Taylor, admitted improvement work would take a long time, adding the company is “working towards what can we do now to reduce the really heavy spillers.”
In recent years, Southern Water has installed a large underground water tank at Appley, to help the town cope with extra surface water in heavy rain. New pumps at two pumping stations on the Island has also be installed.
Ninety per cent of the Isle of Wight falls under Southern Water’s Sandown catchment – made up of eight smaller areas. The company is trial different solutions in different areas.
In response to today’s Paddle Out protest, Nick Mills, Head of Southern Water’s Clean Rivers and Seas Task Force, said: “We are already working to reduce the number of storm overflows, investing significant money to build bigger infrastructure and redesign a legacy Victorian sewer system, as well as using innovative technology and natural solutions.
“Since privatisation, the quality of our bathing waters has risen from only 28 per cent meeting public health standards, to 94 per cent now rated as ‘good’ or ‘excellent.’
“We are investing the money where it’s needed, we have not paid external dividends to shareholders since 2017. Our Chief Executive this week confirmed he would not be taking a bonus in 2023.”
An anti-sewage protest in Gurnard, in October 2022. Photo by Tim Butt/Vertigo Films. (Image: Tim Butt)
The company said it would be consulting customers to ensure it gets the balance right between “significant investment and keeping bills affordable.”
Today’s gathering takes place at Appley, from midday.
Nick Mills said: “Although Appley Beach is rated as ‘good’ by the Environment Agency, we want to work with partners to get it up to ‘Excellent.”
“We have identified improvements at Appley by increasing our pumping operation and also improving storage, which will help reduce storm overflow releases.”
