The river Rother last year suffered 9,965 hours of sewage overflow pollution, the most of any river in Southern Water’s service area.
The 35-mile-long waterway saw 784 incidents of sewage overspill, according to figures released by water company analysis website Top of the Poops. Although this duration was 2,347 hours less than the previous year, the Rother ranked in 16th position overall for English and Welsh rivers, one below the Mersey Estuary.
It remains unclear from the statistics exactly how much sewage entered the East Sussex river in 2022, although it’s known the pollution related to 784 incidents, an average of two a day. Given that the river discharges into Rye Bay, the news will certainly not be welcomed by Rye’s fishing community and bathers at Camber Sands.
Sewage overflow pollution occurred at 20 locations along the river, including Harbour Road in Rye, the Rye Cricket Salts, Peasmarsh, Iden, Northiam, Wittersham, Stone-in-Oxney, Hurst Green and Burwash.
The website also published details of sewage overspill directly affecting beachside bathing water, with Camber listed as experiencing 252 hours from 32 incidents in 2022, although the time fell by 309 hours compared to the previous year. According to Surfers Against Sewage, Southern Water was responsible for sewage overflows into its service area’s bathing waters totalling 1,285 hours between May and September last year.
Sewage overflow pollution into rivers and the marine environment has become an increasingly important political issue in recent years.
Image Credits: Larry McIntyre .
This is absolutely appalling, what a disgrace and not only a local but a national embarrassment. As we near local elections I realise it’s necessary to be circumspect about overtly political comments however it’s impossible to ignore and not directly refer to our local MP’s voting record on sewage discharge regulation. Feargal Sharkey’s campaign is very clear on attributing this outrageous practice to poor regulation, we can do so much better than this https://www.sussexexpress.co.uk/news/people/hastings-candidate-meets-ex-undertones-frontman-and-environmental-campaigner-feargal-sharkey-at-labour-conference-3869306
Is there anything we can do to pressurise Southern Water to prevent these “spills”? The beach at Camber has been stinking for 2 weeks.
Amanda I’ve had a comment awaiting moderation that I think in my frustration at this situation may have contravened Rye News moderation guidelines but in short, yes there are things we can do. Many people are putting pressure on Southern Water and government already, check out Feargal Sharkey’s campaign for instance. It’s a disgrace but there are opportunities to change how water companies are regulated.
The answer is renationalise the water companies! The basis of privatisation under Thatcher’s government was to give consumers choice and cheaper bills but we’ve ended up with asset stripping and foreign investors scooping up profits. I’m not happy with Southern Water but I have no choice, I’m stuck with them while they dump sewage in our rivers and on our coastline while shareholders enjoy dividends.
Hi, Amanda.
The short answer to your question is write to your MP. There’s a longer, more philosophical aspect to this too…
First, as admirable an environmentalist as he is, you do not have a ‘Democratic contract’ with Feargal Sharkey. But you do with your MP and it’s her duty to represent you. It’s very simple to email, and MPs have to pay attention to their mailbag if they want to get re-elected. We need to restore faith in our political system and make it work for us, and we’ll only do that through engaging and voting.
I’d like to say something about petitions too, bcs we’ve heard rather a lot about them lately on Rye News…
Petitions have been a feature of modern British political life from the time of the Chartists – and probably much before. They are a lever of political pressure. In the last decade, we will all have been conscious of them becoming a prominent online campaigning tool once again – 38 Degrees etc. But they’re far less an expression of faith and engagement in politics, and far more an expression of pervasive disillusion with our Democratic process: Petitions have become a substitute for real political representation. Personally, I’m not prepared to settle for that.
Petitions also serve another function in the data-driven age. Political parties of all hues use data analytics to drive campaigns – even Lib Dems! Bcs of our electoral system, designed for a binary age of Whigs and Tories, parties want to know who to target in the run up to a general election, especially in a marginal constituency like Rye and Hastings. Petitions help them do that. They want to know who belongs to what tribe and who’s persuadable. They want to know who they should email, who they should canvass, and which subset of voters will help them win power. Data also help parties know who they can ignore of course… Obama used data analytics, Vote Leave did, all political parties do it… In a sense it’s about effective campaigning, but really it’s also symptomatic of the problem afflicting British Democracy – bcs it’s an acceptance of a failed electoral process. It’s a way to game the system and win a majority under First Past The Post.
So nobody would be surprised by the small print at the foot of Helena Dollimore’s very worthy campaign to help safeguard our local fire service. It says, amongst other things,
“We may use the Information you provide, such as name and postcode, to match the data provided to your electoral register record held on our electoral database, which could inform future communications you receive from us. We may use your answers to help us campaign better.”
It’s legalese for saying, ‘we’re harvesting your election data’. And I’ll repeat, all political parties do it. I too am recording data as I canvass for the District Council elections. And good luck to Ms Dollimore if she assists the many others who are pushing for a positive solution to staffing at The Ridge. And as Sir Keir Starmer absolutely opposes electoral reform, I suppose there’s no contradiction…
But be aware as you sign your next petition, that you’re effectively endorsing the status quo and you’re essentially resigning yourself to a flawed electoral system where millions of votes do not matter one jot, and you have to sign petitions to feel like your voice actually counts…
If you want real change, don’t look to celebrities, don’t bother signing petitions for Shadow Ministers with no power to effect current policy, do it by voting to change the electoral system at the next general election. Bcs that is the only way to guarantee every vote matters, and to ensure critical environmental concerns are given primacy over shareholders’ dividends. That’s why the Greens support PR and that’s why the Lib Dems do too.
In the meantime, here’s Mrs Hart’s email:
sallyann.hart.mp@parliament.uk
Interesting piece. We walk the dog on Rye Harbour beach whenever the tide is low enough. We’ve noticed over the last few months, not only has the physical structure of the beach changed dramatically also, the sand at the shoreline is covered in a thin grey gloop. We’re used to grey silage that appears from time to time bringing with it the small dog swallowing mud holes. The gloop covers shoes and dog’s with equal impunity, sticks like whatever it is to blankets and is nigh on impossible to remove and smells truly horrid. Distinct lack of bait diggers on the bay at low tide for seems to be the last 18 months.
The shoreline at Rye Harbour has had mud holes (as they are known locally) longer than anyone on hear has been alive, bait diggers and shrimpers know where they are and avoid them, what happens is that the amount of sand covering them varies with the conditions and sometimes they become uncovered.
Most of them are beyond the low water mark but there is and always has been mud in some of the gullies.
Nothing to do with pollution but a natural occurrence.
Your readers may be interested in the Strandliners who do beach and river clean ups in the local area. They will tell you about the vast amount of litter, including biobeads from water treatment plants as well as the usual junk such as bottles and cans. Fertilisers from the farms seep into the rivers causing poisoning to wildlife. A fisherman who had fished the Rother for 40 years told me that the river Rother is badly silted up, polluted, with shallow clearance for boats. What few fish there are, are catfish that eat everything else apparently. Mink are depleting kingfisher nests among other things. A depressing legacy that we are leaving for future generations. Southern Water’s “spills” will no doubt continue. They will also continue to pay their shareholders’ dues and executives vast salaries. Shame on them.
Having been a committee member when the football and cricket Salts flooded badly a few years ago,the cause was the outlet covers failing to operate properly, when the river was at its highest, the same thing happened recently on the old town Salts,this is the environment agencies department, nothing to do with Southern water.