Earlier today we published a statement by Rebecca Pow on the Somerset Levels. In essence, the Minister for the Environment seemed to suggest the problem is now sorted. (see https://leveller.live/2021/11/01/pow-says-somerset-levels-problem-is-fixed/) Ian Liddell-Grainger, MP for Bridgwater and Somerset West disagrees. Reading the statement from the Minister he responded: “It is full of talk about task forces, phosphorous budget calculators and mitigation methods. But it says nothing, absolutely nothing about the urgent action that is required now to restore the health of those waterways.”
Mr Liddell Grainger also suggested the department was seriously underestimating the risks. Blithely asserting that various mitigation schemes will be enough is not, in his opinion, good enough.
The problem is caused predominantly by sewage discharges into local rivers. It has affected all the specially-protected wildlife sites on the Levels, with algal growths endangering aquatic life. There are fears the degradation could threaten the area’s internationally-protected status. Natural England downgraded the status of the Somerset Levels in June last year (https://www.gov.uk/government/news/action-needed-to-fix-somerset-levels-and-moors-phosphate-level)
Mr Liddell-Grainger, says Defra appeared not to have grasped the seriousness of the problem. “I also read that Wessex Water has given an assurance that its discharges will be cleaned up within two or three years. But until we see those improvements in place and until we get proof that they are working that remains nothing more than a promise.”
Mr Liddell Grainger puts the blame squarely on overdevelopment within Somerset. “What we are seeing is the result of throwing up housing estate after housing estate with no regard to the impact on the environment. And nothing in the ministerial statement provides any assurance that it is prudent or safe to lift the embargo and carry on building as we were before.”
Isn’t that what I said in reply to the earlier published topic, and believe me I do not have a single qualification in Politics or environmental issues, yet in time honoured fashioned here comes the smoke screen and bull poo