South West Water 'willing to bring money forward' for Exmouth repairs, MP says
South West Water is willing to bring money forward to hasten sewer repair work in Exmouth, according to the town’s MP David Reed.
Mr Reed says he met with the firm’s chief executive Susan Davy to urge her to speed up remedial work and improvements to Exmouth’s sewage infrastructure.
He said external consultants hired by the company had assessed the state of sewage pipes.
Sewage spills in August led to Exmouth’s beaches being closed at the height of tourist season, prompting anger from residents, while a burst pipe in Imperial Road near estuary in July also caused issues.
The company assured residents that no spillage had entered the water.
Mr Reed campaigned about sewage spills before the general election, and said he is working so the community can hold SWW to account.
"We’ve had a litany of mistakes over the past few months, with multiple burst pipes, local beaches closes, businesses affected and tourism hindered,” he told Radio Exe’s Devoncast podcast.
“We’re starting to get a reputation nationally for all the wrong reasons, and we’re in this position because of South West Water’s behaviour and unwillingness to put structural engineering funds in and to do the work over recent years.
”Mr Reed said Ms Davy and Richard Price, the company’s new managing director for waste water services, understood the “magnitude of anger felt by the local community” and were “willing to bring money forward”.
However, he acknowledged that SWW would need approval to do this from the Environment Agency and water regulator Ofwat.
He has asked a minister from the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) to meet with him and Ms Davy, so that “we have that other lever to make sure SWW is doing what it says”.
Mr Reed said the report on Exmouth’s sewage pipes, produced by Pell Frischmann Consulting Engineers, would be shared with county, district and town councillors, as well as with campaign groups, such as Escape (End Sewage Convoys and Poollution Exmouth).
He hoped to convene a meeting with interested parties “to make sure everyone understands what’s happening.“
It becomes a really difficult situation when there are multiple different narratives online and in person about what is happening, so I want to bring everyone together into one room to allow them to be briefed by the Environment Agency and SWW to get a balanced view,” he said.
“I want them all to be briefed on what the report says and what SWW’s plans are in the short- and medium-term to put the relevant fixes in.
“By doing so, that will allow us to collectively put pressure on SWW as we are speaking with one voice.”
The firm said it had tasked “over 100 people working around the clock to fix the issue” after a pipe burst at Maer Road.
He added that the leak in the sewer from Maer Road pumping station to Maer Lane waste water treatment works on Wednesday 14 August was stopped “within two hours so we could start work on a temporary solution to bypass the damaged main so that a permanent repair can be made”.
“We know how disappointed residents and visitors to Exmouth are,” he said.
“I would like to reassure you that we are doing everything we can, as quickly and thoroughly as possible, to ensure your local wastewater network is fit for the future.”
In addition, South West Water said: "We are working with our regulatory partners to bring forward our planned improvements in Exmouth.
"This includes upgrading our pumping stations and treatment works to significantly reduce the number of spills.
"We are continuing to do everything we can to protect the environment as part of our £38 million investment in Exmouth."
Credit: Bradley Gerrard, Local Democracy Reporting Service.