On Saturday, I joined volunteers on a regular, litter-picking session in Arundel, organised by Cllr Angela Standing from Arundel Town Council, kindly supported by Arun District Council. There were lots of friendly faces in the town on this crispy autumnal day, and it was great to see such community-minded spirit. No shortage of litter to collect either!
On the subject of clean up there has been a lot of misunderstanding on storm overflow and untreated sewage in my inbox this week. No one is more opposed to this horrific practice than me which is why – after no action by many successive governments - the Environment Bill is an absolute game-changer in tackling a problem that has existed for the 200 years since the Victorians first built a single set of pipes to carry both household waste and public drains. This results in the problem which no one wishes to see of sewage discharge into rivers at times of exceptional flooding. The Bill which I supported this week means for the first-time ever, water companies will face a legal obligation to bring forward plans to rebuild their pipes over time, gives powers for Ministers to direct water companies on this and, critically, insists upon real time public reporting (within 60 minutes) anytime storm overflow happens. These are real measures backed up by a bill of £7.1 billion that has been handed to water companies to make improvements. Locally, I am a member of a group of Solent Basin MPs holding Southern Water - whose past conduct we all know has been unacceptable on this issue - to account and to quickly ensure our waterways and beaches are pristine.
On Friday, I joined with West Sussex Growers Association, the Horticultural Trades Association and eight horticultural businesses from around the county to discuss the key issues facing their industry. Readers will be familiar with the many glasshouses and nurseries across our sunshine bathed county (most of the time!). I heard first-hand about some of the challenges being faced by local growers, including a ‘virtual tour’ of Tristram Plants in Walberton. I will continue to work with them to reduce red tape and ensure a supply of labour to help this clean and green sector continue to prosper.
