Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: I thank all noble Lords for their thoughtful and helpful contributions on these important issues. The drainage and sewerage management plans introduced by Clause 78 will deliver improvements for both customers and the environment. They will be produced at least every five years and cover a 25-year planning horizon, enabling sewerage undertakers to develop and maintain a complete picture of...
Alan Chambers: ...(NIW), albeit there has been a welcome increase in capital funding for NIW this year, it needs a long-term plan, with significantly greater funding in subsequent years, to develop the water and sewerage infrastructure to allow new homes and businesses to be built and, importantly, to mitigate localised flooding. (AQT 1522/17-22)
Alan Chambers: 2. Mr Chambers asked the Minister for Infrastructure how many housing proposals have been delayed or abandoned because NI Water did not have sewerage or water infrastructure in place to facilitate additional housing in the last five years. (AQO 2351/17-22)
Lord Cameron of Dillington: ...but dramatic rise in planned housing provision and the fact that we probably have too many people per cubic metre of water in many parts of our country—it is important that the drainage and sewerage management plans work. The amendment is designed to ensure that the plans work not only for present and future customers but for the environment. Above all, and I stress this, it is important...
Baroness Jones of Whitchurch: ...water quality. To pick up on some of the contributions, the noble Lord, Lord Chidgey, rightly raised the environmental damage that can be done by septic tanks and the need to link them to the main sewerage system. As he said, their existence is a primitive legacy of a pre-industrial age and a symptom of a lack of investment in the infrastructure over many years. My noble friend Lord Whitty...
...coming into force; and(b) in every calendar year after the year in which that first report is published.(2) Reports under this section must include assessments of—(a) the performance of the sewerage assets of each water company; and(b) the quantities of treated and untreated sewage discharged into inland waters from those assets.””Member’s explanatory statementThis amendment...
Lord Blencathra: My Lords, I declare my environmental interests as in the register. I support the noble Lord, Lord Cameron of Dillington, and his Amendment 163A, which encourages sewerage under-takers to consider nature-based solutions for wastewater treatment. We have new and emerging threats in trying to treat wastewater. We have microplastics and increasing levels of hormones and other pharmaceuticals, as...
Lord Goldsmith of Richmond Park: ...economy. On Amendments 120 and 120A, tabled by the noble Lords, Lord Bradshaw and Lord Chidgey, respectively, the Government echo the concern around the Committee surrounding the damage caused to sewerage systems and the wider environment by the incorrect disposal and abundance of wet wipes and the use of inappropriate cleaning products, a point also made by the noble Baroness, Lady Scott...
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering: ...I am arguing for the importance of leaving the courts with a power to impose a financial penalty, as in this case, upon an unsuccessful body—including, for example, statutory undertakings such as sewerage and water undertakers—which has been found to be in breach of environmental law. It is extremely important that, in the context of what we are asking the OEP to do in the remit of the...
Rebecca Pow: ...water companies and government will help to reduce pollution in rivers - protecting wildlife and public health. Water companies are for the first time currently producing comprehensive Drainage and Sewerage Management Plans to assess the capacity of their wastewater networks. We are also taking steps through the Environment Bill to require water companies to produce such Plans on a...
Baroness McIntosh of Pickering: ...wipes, baby wipes and now these antibacterial cleaning wipes, which we have all been purchasing and using during Covid. Perhaps the packets should say how to dispose of them. I know that water and sewerage companies are driven to distraction by wipes and ear buds being placed down toilets. This leads to blockages and untold difficulties. I am minded to table an amendment myself later if...
Martina Anderson: ...being the case, how will your Department take full advantage of these potential funding opportunities, maybe to develop additional North/South infrastructure projects? I am quite keen to see the sewerage capacity [Inaudible owing to poor sound quality] Derry/Donegal border. Given that Waterways Ireland successfully got funding from the shared Ireland future fund, it would be good to get...
Lord Randall of Uxbridge: ...to put down a marker to show that I consider this to be extremely important. If we were sitting here in 1858, with the Great Stink going on, before Joseph Bazalgette came in with his plans for the sewerage of London, we would all be taking this a great deal more seriously.
Edwin Poots: ...to ensure that that is the case, you would need to give Northern Ireland Water a few billion pounds to spend on infrastructure. That is the reality. For years, we did not spend money on water and sewerage infrastructure. When the Troubles were going, we were paying for police officers' overtime and for rebuilding buildings that had been blown up. There was some investment in roads, schools...
Roy Beggs: ...of Larne, a third of the multistorey flats need to come down, and there is a small application for some social housing. I fear that that will not be able to be built because we do not have adequate sewerage infrastructure and the application to build has not been joined to the demolition and rebuild; it is a separate, stand-alone application. It is important to have water infrastructure if...
Lord Sheikh: ...Bill has provisions on air quality targets. I look forward to discussing these points further. I totally welcome Part 5, related to water quality, resources, drainage, and regulation of water and sewerage companies. These provisions are important, as use of water is an important part of our daily lives. I also welcome the provisions in the Bill related to tree felling and planting....
David Hilditch: ...she made about outstanding works, bonds and construction costs. Ten years ago, the figures relating to unadopted roads were stark. Anything between 1,200 and 3,500 unadopted roads and some 1,200 sewerage systems were identified as being in backlog, with over 620 kilometres of unadopted roads and laneways that sit outside the private streets process. While progress has been made, a worrying...
Caroline Pidgeon: The 2019 Environmental Agency report on the environmental performance of water and sewerage companies in England highlighted that performance had deteriorated for the second year in a row, with half of serious incidents of pollution being due to Anglian Water and Thames Water. What steps have you taken to raise concerns of pollution incidents in the London area with Thames Water and with...
Roy Beggs: The Minister has referred to the fact that there can be a wide range of sources of pollution, including the Water Service. Given that our sewerage system is already at capacity in many areas, will the Minister advise whether he has been involved in any discussions at Executive level to solve the impasse with the Water Service so that pollution does not continue to be released, affecting the...
Dolores Kelly: ...been refused or put on hold because of the lack of capacity, particularly for sewage. I know that, time and time again, the Minister has called for greater investment by the Executive in water and sewerage infrastructure. Can she outline the impact that that lack of investment is having across the North?