Two recent pollution incidents on the river Leadon emphasise It’s Our County concerns with the expansion plans for Ledbury.
Said Liz Harvey, It’s Our CountyCllr for Ledbury:
The river Leadon at Ledbury. Recent pollution incidents killed all the fish.
“The key to all modern planning is that it must be ‘sustainable’. Although ‘sustainable development’ is a hotly disputed term it is obvious that clean water must be part of it. At the moment the river Leadon is hardly coping. If we have all the extra housing and industry the Council wants, there will have to be big changes to the sewage works and a 20% restriction on householder use to keep us within European Directives. It is unclear who will pay for this, the developer, Welsh Water or Severn Trent. ”.
On August 2nd this year Universal Beverages Ltd, on the Little Marcle Road, on the south west edge of Ledbury were fined £36,000 and ordered to pay £20,825 in costs due to seven pollution offences that occurred between October 2008 and January 2009. UBL state they have since rectified the situation.
Another Category 1 pollution incident occurred in August this year, this time it was from the sewage works just downstream from UBL. It led again to the death of fish and was front page news of the Ledbury Gazette. It is currently still under investigation by the Environment Agency.
The fact that the river Leadon is in a poor state is not news. A 2009 Water Cycle Study commissioned by Herefordshire Council found the river Leadon had ‘poor ecological status’ due to pollution from both sewage and farming, and will require mitigation if more houses are built, though what and how and how much it will cost is not defined.
The report states that people will be expected to reduce their water consumption by 20% from 150 litres per day to 120 litres per day and that sewage infrastructure could prove a major constraint on house building plans.
The plan for Ledbury 2011 to 2031 includes 800 new houses and more employment land. It includes 700 new houses north of the viaduct and a 12ha employment site between the Little Marcle and Ross road. Both lie close to the river Leadon and their location can only exacerbate the situation.
Herefordshire Council have not yet stated how it will achieve its aims of building new houses, providing water for them and improving the ecological statues of the river Leadon.
Natural England and the Environment Agency have expressed concerns about the ability of the River Leadon to cope with the extra development planned and Welsh Water have warned that expansion will be subject to funding approval from the Water Industry Regulator.
Ledbury’s situation is complicated because water and sewage services are divided between Welsh Water, whose overseeing body is the Welsh Assembly and Severn Trent Water whose overseeing body is the Water Regulator and English Government. It is not clear who will pay for expansion to the water and sewage system in Ledbury
Said Liz Harvey,
“It’s Our County were out again this weekend on the streets of Ledbury distributing leaflets about the expansion plans for town planned by Herefordshire Council, because it is very important that people say whether they want these additional houses in Ledbury at all. I urge everyone to write into the Planning Department by November 28th.”
Notes for Editors
It’s Our County is the largest opposition political party in Herefordshire. It has nine Councillors plus one Green member in its political group in the Council.
It’s Our County stands for independence, openness, accountability, fairness and sustainability. While recognising Herefordshire is part of a global economy it rejects fashions in national political and works on local solutions for local problems. For more information go to www.itsourcounty.org/
For UBL fine see http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/news/132176.aspx?page=1&month=8&year=2011&coverage=Midlands
For Water Cycle Study see: http://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/housing/planning/35103.asp (LDF, Evidence Base, Water Cycle Study). See maps 7.1 and 2.6
For future water restrictions see http://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/docs/MTRAP_Scoping_Report.pdf
To have your say on the Ledbury Plan write in the LDF, Licence Number RRJX-TLSH-SCYH, Freepost, Forward Planning, Herefordshire Council, PO Box 4, Plough Lane, Hereford HR4 OXH. Or email ldf@herefordshire.gov.uk
For comments on expansion in Ledbury by different agencies see http://www.herefordshire.gov.uk/docs/Market_Towns.pdf