Agenda item

Members agreed to undertake an inquiry into pollution in Buckinghamshire’s rivers and chalk streams. The Committee will receive the final report of the review group ahead of it being presented to Cabinet on 15 November.

Contributors:

Councillor Robert Carington, Chairman of the Inquiry Group

All Inquiry Members

The Chairman invited the Chairman of the Inquiry Group, Councillor R Carington, to introduce the report to the Select Committee. In his introduction, the Chairman of the Inquiry Group outlined the inquiry process timeline and the organisations that had been involved. The Chairman thanked the Group Members, officers, the scrutiny officer and external organisations for their input throughout the inquiry. Highlights of the recommendations in the report included the need for further investment by the water companies in Buckinghamshire, what the Council could do to influence water quality and improvements required by the Environment Agency (EA).  

The Chairman invited Councillor R Stuchbury to ask his pre-submitted questions which were as follows:

        i.            Has work begun to expand the Chesham Sewage Treatment Works and do we know its progress? Did the Inquiry hear of this as part of the report?

       ii.            Will the same efforts that have been applied in the Chess catchment area be applied in the Thames and Great River Ouse areas?

     iii.            Will the report be highlighted to the Buckinghamshire MPs in light of the legislation passed in Parliament in 2021?

In response, the Chairman of the Inquiry Group, Councillor R Carington, answered as follows:

        i.            The inquiry heard about progress at the Chesham Sewage Treatment Works from Thames Water when they attended a meeting in person as part of the evidence gathering. The site needed to increase its Flow to Full Treatment by March 2025, and Thames Water planned to deliver this scheme in 2023 to benefit the environment and resolve spills into the River Chess. Thames Water advised that the scheme would deliver an increased treatment capacity from 240 litres per second to 353 litres per second.

       ii.            The Chess catchment had an active partnership that was selected by Thames Water to be one of three Smarter Water Catchment Programmes in their area. The inquiry group recognised the benefit of this programme and its report recommended that the Cabinet Member for Environment & Climate Change lobbied the water companies to invest in other programmes in the county.

     iii.            It was intended that the report would be circulated to Buckinghamshire MPs in due course.

Members of the Select Committee considered the report and noted that:

·       Engagement from the water companies, Thames Water and Anglian Water, had been positive and it was hoped the relationships could be maintained.

·       Disappointment was expressed regarding the EA not attending a meeting either virtually or in person. One Member was encouraged to share his ward experience of a lack of EA engagement with the Leader as part of the linked recommendation in the inquiry report.

·       Gully emptying was an important activity that needed to continue.

·       It was suggested that the report be shared to the creator of a petition that the Council received that ran between November – December 2021.

Action: C Ward

·       The report would be presented to Cabinet on Tuesday 15 November.

The Select Committee Chairman thanked his Vice-Chairman for leading on the report and thanked all Members of the Inquiry Group for their work.