Decision

A vote was taken (unanimous) and the altered motion was carried as follows:

“Council notes that:

1. Every single river in England is now polluted beyond legal limits, with raw sewage spills from overflows contributing massively to the pollution of our waterways.
2. Anglian Water provides sewerage services for our region, and in 2025 the company dumped sewage 16,779 times for a total of 101,598 hours - including 3,512 hours of sewage discharges in local waterways in South Cambridgeshire.
3. Our local rivers - including the River Cam, the River Great Ouse, the River Mel, the River Granta - are particularly threatened by further sewage discharges; with many of these being globally significant chalk stream habitats, containing numerous unique species and providing a high level of biodiversity in an otherwise nature depleted area.
4. High volumes of rainwater entering the sewerage system, as well as the addition of pollutants from human sources, increases the risk of overflows and sewage dumping. In addition to sewage, run-off from farms and wash-off from roads also contribute to river pollution.
5. National and local organisations are campaigning to improve our river quality, demonstrating the significant and growing public interest in protecting our watercourses.

Council believes:

-        That protecting and improving the quality of our rivers and chalk streams should be reflected in all relevant Council policies, decisions and activities.

-        That the level of sewage discharging at both local and national level is disgraceful and unacceptable; more so than ever, taking into account the cumulative impact of years of sewage dumping and the growing local impacts of the climate and ecological crises.

-        That the UK Government should:

-        Accelerate plans to replace Ofwat with a create a super-regulator with wider enforcement powers over the economic and environmental performance of water companies.

-        Ensure this regulator has sufficient new powers to prevent sewage dumps, increase inspection regularity of water companies and farms, and rigorously prosecute offenders.

-        Strengthen the Office for Environmental Protection and provide more funding to the Environment Agency and Natural England to help protect our rivers and enforce environmental laws.

-        Properly fund local and highways authorities so that they can introduce systems to prevent road pollutants from entering our waterways.

Council further believes that local residents, who are already facing a cost-of-living crisis, should not bear the cost of water companies upgrading decades worth of crumbling infrastructure, while these companies continue to make significant profits, especially in light of average water bills in our region being set to rise by 7% this year.

Council resolves to:

-        request that the Leader of the Council and the Lead Cabinet Member for Environment write to the Secretary of the State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs to make clear the position of this council and call for tougher action to bring the practice of sewage dumping to an end.

-        Request that the Leader of the Council and Lead Cabinet Member for Environment write to Anglian Water requesting urgent action to greatly reduce sewage outflows at key sites such as Haslingfield, Foxton and Whaddon and to provide an update on progress to date as well as their future plans.”