Bexhill business leader calls for £1 million compensation for town following sewage discharge

Howard Martin, president of Bexhill Chamber of Commerce and Tourism, wrote to Bexhill and Battle MP, Huw Merriman saying the recent ‘outpourings of raw sewage’ were ‘destroying’ the town’s reputation as a ‘clean and friendly tourism destination’.

He said: “At the height of summer and coming up to a Bank Holiday the outpourings are potentially destroying our struggling hospitality sector.

“Bexhill desperately needs compensating for the fiasco that has been going on for the whole summer. We want real hard cash compensation for our businesses and community.

“One of the key projects for the compensation package should be the fixing of the seafront fountains to bring back some sense of public wellbeing to our seafront.

“The remainder would be administered by an independent body of coastal community regeneration experts and be put towards capital projects that improve the town's visitor economy.”

Mr Merriman said: “I’m incredibly disappointed and angry about this latest pollution of our beautiful coastline.

“The only way to prevent sewage from entering our waters is to remove all combined sewage overflows from our sewerage systems. This is going to be an expensive and complex fix but we cannot allow raw sewage to be pumped into our seas and rivers during times of heavy rainfall or at any other times when the older sewerage systems risk being overloaded.

“I was pleased to be part of the movement in Parliament which persuaded the Government to place a legal obligation on water authorities to do stop these sewage discharges. I expect the targets which will be included in the new Environment Bill, due on September 1, to be ambitious and for financial penalties to be imposed for a failure to deliver.

“More frustratingly, the recent discharge impacting Bexhill beaches was not from a storm overflow but due to a mechanical failure in the Galley Hill wastewater pumping station operated by Southern Water. I’ve posed a series of questions to the chief executives of Southern Water and the Environment Agency about these events.

“I have meetings with these agencies this week and have arranged a wider meeting for all Sussex MPs in Parliament."

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