East Devon council files vote of no confidence in South West Water

A council has passed a vote of no confidence in South West Water (SWW) after a series of pipe failures and sewage overflows in the area.

East Devon District Council (EDDC) voted unanimously to pass the motion at a full council meeting on Wednesday.

The council said its leader Paul Arnott would now write to SWW, and would be asking local MPs to lobby government.

SWW said it would continue to do everything it could to deliver improvements and address concerns.

A spokesperson for the water company said: "We are disappointed to hear about the motion passed by East Devon District Council.

"We will continue to do everything we can to deliver ongoing improvements and to address the concerns of our customers in light of the recent bursts in the area."

It previously said it was investing £38m to reduce spills at Exmouth and took its responsibilities "very seriously".

There were a number of pipe failures in Exmouth in December, including at the Phear Park Pumping Station emergency overflow outfall, where SWW said sewage had been released into the estuary because of a burst of one of its critical rising mains.

EDDC said it was "alarmed" SWW had failed to notify the council of sewage overflows in Exmouth, leading to reports of people and pets falling ill from exposure to untreated human waste during sea swimming.

During the meeting, EDDC agreed Mr Arnott should write publicly to SWW's chief executive to request a commitment from the water company to involve town and parish councils in discussions regarding ongoing and upcoming works.

The council also wants a joint partnership between SWW, EDDC officers, and cabinet members on ongoing developments and issues.

It also said it wanted SWW to work with EDDC planning officers to help manage pressures caused by new developments, respond to community concerns and proactively advise the public of overflows.

At the council meeting, it was also agreed the leader would write to local MPs to encourage them to support efforts to engage SWW.

The letter will also ask MPs to lobby the government to revisit "weak legislation", and to resist a request by the water company to raise bills by more than 20% by 2030 - until demonstrable action on sewage spills had been taken.

Mr Arnott said: "We truly do not have any confidence in the operational side of South West Water, particularly to protect key communities all the way across East Devon.

"Particularly at the moment, you can see it in Exmouth, where there is sewage coming up through the streets, it's coming up through failed pumping stations, and it's going into the sea."

The council leader said "despite repeated assurances", the local authority believed SWW had "now lost control".

"It's evidenced in plain sight...hundreds, thousands probably of tanker journeys going around with sewage that essentially is going straight into the sea," he added.

"The infrastructure is broken, and the reason for the no confidence is they should have known 10, 12 years ago the infrastructure would break, and they didn't fix the roof...when the sun was shining."

Follow BBC Devon on X (formerly Twitter), Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to [email protected].