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The state of our rivers

The argument seems to be about the cost overall. It is very large. But the action should be about prioritising the sites, tackling the worst ones first. That way the cost is spread over time. The starting point should be our most sensitive rivers like chalk streams and the River Wye, plus those that supply drinking water.
 
I think they were hoping this would pass under the radar yet they are being hung up publicly for everyone to see. Not a good look. Even my local WhatsApp group are shaming our MP Royston Smith for voting to reject the ammendment. Long may it continue. Save the planet whilst screwing immediate problems such as the rivers, hypocrites.
 
Thinking positively, this issue we’ve been banging on about for years and has gone unresolved for decades, by a mostly indifferent public has finally gone mainstream in a big way. People that would normally switch off when I start ranting a bit on the subject are now telling me about it (shows how much they listen… but hey) and even if they think this problem sprung out the ground as a result of Brexit I glad it’s blowing up in public debate.
Hopefully there will be sufficient public pressure to change the corse of its next reading, today I believe, and the public can go back to flushing wet wipes down the bog and feeling smug about almond milk lattes.
 
I emailed Boris my MP and he sent me a reply before the vote, it looks like Boris did not vote. Just wondering if anyone got a reply and if the one I received was the standard one. 20211019_070505.jpg20211025_170454.jpg20211025_170516.jpg
 
It seems a lot of conservative MP's have been caught out by the reaction to the voting down of the amendment and it seems that many didn't really have any idea exactly what they were voting on. They were simply being marched through the Westminster lobby's by the party whips who give orders on how to vote for a whole series of amendments. Sadly this is pretty standard.

Subsequently some of the MP's have taken to social media to defend their actions using dubious information supplied by No.10's spin doctors, with many claiming that the costs of upgrading the nations Victorian sewage system were likely to be as much as £600bn! Yet none of them can support any evidence to support this claim. This is hardly surprising as within the Environment Bill there is a tacit admission that the costs of upgrading the countries sewerage infrastructure is completely unknown. There is indeed is a commitment for Defra to have to undertake this research and get a handle on likely costs.

It is interesting that in BJ's reply to Mark he himself doesn't quote any cost figures.

Any it seems that many Conservative MP's have been taken aback by the backlash from their constituents. There is I believe an opportunity for some political momentum, I would implore anyone whose MP voted against the amendment to email them and ask them to explain their reason for doing so.

Good questions to ask include:

- Did you actually understand the nature of the amendment or were you simply towing the party line?

- If they have quoted spurious cost figures on their websites or social media feeds, ask them to explain where these figures have come from?

- Ask them were they aware that the Environment Bill includes measures to accurately estimate the costs of sewerage upgrades?
 
This is an interesting site: https://experience.arcgis.com/.../e834e261b537.../page/home/

You can look up when your local water treatment plant has dumped sewage into your river. In 2020 sewage was dumped into the Loddon near me a total of 10 times. This sounds bad but other local rivers have received much more. Over a hundred discharges went into the Thames at Pangbourne! I wonder if all those wild swimmers are aware!

Steve
 
I have been looking at that site for a few years now and two local sites stand out. Gerrards cross STW is now dumping into the Misbourne its always been clean suddenly changed to 82 times over 1320 hours in 2020. There was also a terrible site, High Wycombe STW that dumped into the tiny river Wye 295 times for 6398 hours in 2019 its suddenly gone missing.
 
Joe Winstanley said:
It seems a lot of conservative MP's have been caught out by the reaction to the voting down of the amendment and it seems that many didn't really have any idea exactly what they were voting on. They were simply being marched through the Westminster lobby's by the party whips who give orders on how to vote for a whole series of amendments. Sadly this is pretty standard.

Subsequently some of the MP's have taken to social media to defend their actions using dubious information supplied by No.10's spin doctors, with many claiming that the costs of upgrading the nations Victorian sewage system were likely to be as much as £600bn! Yet none of them can support any evidence to support this claim. This is hardly surprising as within the Environment Bill there is a tacit admission that the costs of upgrading the countries sewerage infrastructure is completely unknown. There is indeed is a commitment for Defra to have to undertake this research and get a handle on likely costs.

It is interesting that in BJ's reply to Mark he himself doesn't quote any cost figures.

Any it seems that many Conservative MP's have been taken aback by the backlash from their constituents. There is I believe an opportunity for some political momentum, I would implore anyone whose MP voted against the amendment to email them and ask them to explain their reason for doing so.

Good questions to ask include:

- Did you actually understand the nature of the amendment or were you simply towing the party line?

- If they have quoted spurious cost figures on their websites or social media feeds, ask them to explain where these figures have come from?

- Ask them were they aware that the Environment Bill includes measures to accurately estimate the costs of sewerage upgrades?
Click to expand...
Good suggestion Joe. I've been intending to write a letter to my MP for as one time now...on a number of subjects, and the list is now quite long. I mostly think that this is a waste of time as I don't think they read these letters. But I'll give it a go and see what response I get. I am expecting to receive a pre-drafted standard reply.
 
If you have time to write to your MP you should. My MP is Welsh labour and it’s a bit of a waste of effort really I found.
I would be interested to see how all the MPs along the River Wye voted 😀
 
Still waiting replies from two emails to Royston Swith, my local MP who rejected the ammendment. I'm not holding my breath on a response to either, especially on a reason for his vote. They work for us... Hmmm.
 
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