Newquay MP calls on water boss to step down unless urgent action is taken on sewage pollution

Newquay’s MP, Noah Law, has called on the head of South West Water, Susan Davy, to consider her position unless the company makes an immediate start on improving infrastructure to tackle sewage pollution.

The MP is due to meet South West Water this week as part of efforts to address 253 complaints from constituents about sewage discharges and pollution at beaches across Newquay and St Austell.

His office says South West Water has unveiled plans to spend £700 million this year on infrastructure improvements between 2030 and 2050, aiming to reduce pollution by 62%, to no more than 10 incidents per site per year. However, Mr Law is calling for faster progress. He says that while the investment is welcome, South West Water needs to act now rather than wait until the end of the investment period, as has become common in the water industry.

“It would be unacceptable for South West Water to effectively say: ‘We’ll do it drekkly’, and deliver new infrastructure towards 2050. They must start now,” he said.

“Like me, constituents are upset, and tired of seeing disgusting sewage pollution spoil local beaches which are so integral to people’s quality of life, as well as business and tourism.

“This Government has introduced tough new legislation to hold water bosses more accountable and we have four criminal cases against South West Water in progress.

“But, in parallel, we also need South West Water to tackle the problem at source, by overhauling its water infrastructure as soon as possible. Having increased customers’ bills significantly, the company has a moral duty to deliver high-quality infrastructure to optimise standards and manage costs in the long term.”

Mr Law’s comments follow the first applications of the Government’s Water (Special Measures) Act legislation - designed to clean up Britain’s seas and rivers and end the payment of bonuses to water company executives. The Act could see water bosses across the country jailed for up to five years, and water companies fined hundreds of millions of pounds.

South West Water has a legal duty to maintain and upgrade infrastructure as part of its obligations to provide reliable, safe water and wastewater services.

“I look forward to meeting South West Water to discuss improvements to infrastructure and a wide range of other related issues such as increased bills. I am also tracking the number of incidents affecting our local beaches and South West Water has promised to work with me in addressing underlying issues. I will continue to update constituents,” said Mr Law.

PRESS PLAY below to listen to our interview with the MP - Noah Law.

A spokesperson for South West Water said:

“We understand how important this issue is to our customers and communities and we’re already delivering real progress.

We were one of only five water companies to reduce storm overflow spills in 2024. Over the last five years, we’ve cut beach spills in the bathing season by 20%, and we’ve already removed three-quarters of the top 20 highest spilling sites from 2023.

There’s more to do, and we’re committed to delivering long-term change as we continue investing at record levels to reduce our use of storm overflows.

We’ll continue working closely with communities and MPs like Mr Law to make the improvements needed now and in the future.”

The company says the work is part of a 15-year investment plan, and while change on this scale takes time, they are already seeing positive results.

It also says its storm overflow monitors are "operating reliably at 93.8% - the second best in the industry. We lead the sector on data and transparency - detecting and recording more spills, including very short duration events that others may miss."