Lib Dem leader Sir Ed Davey accused the government of failing to take sewage pollution seriously in a visit to the River Goyt in Bredbury last Friday.

Alongside parliamentary candidate and local councillor Lisa Smart, Mr Davey tested pollution levels in the river and also called for a "sewage tax" on water companies' profits if they failed to invest in infrastructure. 

Mr Davey told Nub News: "I've never known sewage to be such a concern to people. Water companies should be doing far more. They've borrowed huge amounts of money to pay huge dividends to the shareholders instead of investing in infrastructure.

"Certain ministers and certain MPs keep voting to allow water companies to pump their filthy sewage into our rivers. The Conservatives don't seem to take this issue seriously."

To address the issue, Mr Davey said that the Lib Dems would bring in a tax on water company profits if they failed to invest in the infrastructure needed to prevent raw sewage overflow, and also stressed the need for stronger regulations, accusing water regulators of "being asleep".

He added: "Ultimately there's increasingly a case for a complete restructuring of the water industry - we need a structure that puts the environment and public health above profit."

Lib Dem leader Ed Davey with Cllr Lisa Smart (Image - Thomas Bryden)

The visit comes as it was revealed raw sewage was dumped into the River Goyt for 1,500 hours last year via the Otterspool Road storm overflow by water firm United Utilities.

It also follows a previous visit the Lib Dem leader made to the area on March 15, during which Mr Davey visited Carr Brook to see the impact of pollution there.

Cllr Lisa Smart, who is also the Lib Dem candidate for Hazel Grove, last year chaired the country's first-ever council inquiry into sewage dumping and delivered recommendations to both United Utilities and the government. 

She said: "These are precious natural assets loved by our community. You can see how many people come here with their dogs who want to paddle - but the owners are nervous because of pollution. This Conservative government has been given opportunity after opportunity to take real action and they've failed to do that."

Following up from the inquiry's recommendations, Cllr Smart said that whilst United Utilities had made progress, they still had "a very long way to go". 

In April last year the firm was found to be the most polluting in the country, according to The Guardian. 

United Utilities last week announced it had begun a consultation on installing a 500,000 litre storm water storage tank in Brookfields Park, Cheadle, which would reduce the use of storm overflows during heavy rainfall.

Joanne Coote, United Utilities Delivery Manager, said: "This work is part of our regional Better Rivers strategy and proposed £1.5 billion investment across the North West. Work is expected to start on site in June 2024 and will continue until Summer 2025 during which there will be temporary changes for access, car parking and local footpaths."

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