Jess to press for Blue Flag status for Chichester’s precious harbours and streams

Jess Brown-Fuller vowed to press for extra protection from sewage spills for Chichester’s harbours, chalk streams and coastal waters if elected as the area’s next Member of Parliament.

The Liberal Democrats this week called for a new protected status for local rivers, harbours, and marine protected areas. Environment Agency statistics show that Southern Water dumped sewage in Chichester’s waterways 1,746 times for a staggering 29,755 hours in 2023.

The Liberal Democrats general election manifesto includes an expansion of marine protected areas and a new Blue Flag status for rivers. The introduction of Blue Flag status would set legally binding targets to prevent sewage dumping in those sites. The Liberal Democrats have been campaigning against the dumping of untreated sewage in Chichester Harbour, the River Lavant and the coast and recently announced that, if elected, they would replace Ofwat with a new regulator with more teeth.

“The current government has replaced strict EU regulations on how many times Southern Water can legally dump untreated wastewater into our waters with loosely worded legislation asking the water companies to try to do better. This is not good enough. A privatised company’s first duty is to its shareholders, then its customers. The environment only gets a look-in if the regulators and government hold it to account, which they don’t seem prepared to do,” said Jess, pointing out that the government recently introduced new legislation to prevent regulators from imposing financial sanctions on companies and even publishing details of their non-compliance of regulations if it might impact their growth.

Latest election polls suggest the Liberal Democrats could win the Chichester, a seat which has been held by the Conservatives for over a century.