Anger over River Severn sewage shame
According to recently published data, the River Severn in Montgomeryshire is the sixth worst in the UK, with 2,809 dumps of sewerage for over 26,083 hours las year.
Meanwhile, Hafren Dyfrdwy, who are underfire from MyWelshpool readers for their 50% hike on bills this year, had 1,810 sewage spills last year, the equivalent of 17,001 hours. That compares to 1,899 spills in 2023 lasting 16,229 hours.
These figures have been provided to us by the Welsh Liberal Democrats, who have been campaigning to clean up Welsh rivers over several years and have stated that the new figures were ‘catastrophic’ for local wildlife and risk damaging tourism and public health.
The Party has stated that the Welsh Government have been ‘asleep at the wheel’, highlighting to another Welsh water company - Dwr Cymru’s position as a so-called ‘non-profit’ and ‘arm’s length’ organisation to avoid proper regulation and accountability.
They have also criticised the previous Conservative UK Government for failing to clamp down on the financial regulation of water companies, with Dwr Cymru having paid out huge bonuses to executives in recent years, despite having one of the worst environmental records of all companies and continuing to charge customers the highest bills in the UK.
Welsh Liberal Democrat Senedd Member for Mid & West Wales, Jane Dodds, said:
“The Welsh Liberal Democrats have consistently pressed both the UK and Welsh Governments to take meaningful action on this growing environmental crisis. Yet, Welsh Labour has remained asleep at the wheel - using Dŵr Cymru’s status as an arm’s-length body as an excuse to avoid proper regulation and accountability.
“As a result, we’ve seen Dŵr Cymru hike customer bills and hand out ridiculously large bonuses to its executives, all while ranking among the worst water polluters in the UK.
“Our rivers and seas are vital to our wildlife, our culture, and our economy—particularly tourism - and they deserve far better stewardship.”
Welsh Lib Dem Senedd Candidate for Gwynedd Maldwyn (Montgomeryshire & Gwynedd) and Llanidloes County Councillor Glyn Preston (pictured above) said:
“For years, the Conservatives allowed water companies to get away with polluting our beautiful local rivers while paying out massive and undeserved bonuses, all while charging Welsh customers record-breaking prices.
“The Welsh Labour Government must get to grips with this crisis and properly regulate Welsh Water and ensure there are real, enforceable punishments for breaking the rules and damaging our waterways.
“We’ve been pushing them for years on this issue, but they’ve totally failed to even start to get to grips with it. If elected to the Senedd next year, I will use my voice to continue to hold both water companies and governments to account.”
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