Gosberton woman fights for change in the law

A woman is fighting for a change in the law to make water companies more transparent over how many customers are hooked up to their treatment plants.

Julie Houldershaw has launched a petition to demand that Ofwat introduce new legislation which requires companies, like Anglia Water, to have public up-to-date lists which show the capacity at its sewage treatment works.

The Gosberton resident feels that sewage capacity and this data should be taken into consideration by councillors when deciding whether to grant planning permission for new housing developments.

Water quality has become an important issue in recent years with greater focus placed on how much raw sewage is being pumped into our waterways and the environment.

Miss Houldershaw, 50, has been trying to piece together how many domestic and commercial customers are hooked up to the Gosberton sewage plant, which also serves nearby Quadring.

She said: “We need to have that data to hold the authorities to account. We don’t know the situation and what the true capacity is.

“We need to know as we can’t keep putting things on there without having the information.

“I want to get people to think ‘ok does it affect me’ - maybe it doesn’t but how does it affect the neighbourhood.”

“It’s ok to kick the can down the road but if you don’t discuss this and know what the problem it is, it’s going to grow.”

Ms Houldershaw has embarked on this journey after encountering problems four years ago with a sewage pipe near her home and this encouraged her to take a closer look at the local situation in Gosberton.

Under current rules, businesses are able to get their water from companies other than Anglian Water while that option is not open to domestic customers.

Ms Houldershaw had been able to get information from the Environment Agency showing treatment plants capacity and has tied that in with the 2021 census figures in a bid to see what the system has to cope with.

But she has been unable to get hold of the number of commercial customers hooked up to to the sewage plant.

She said: “In 2021 census Gosberton had a population of 1,455 and Quadring 975. Since then both villages have had considerable new builds. I am trying to get the councils to actually take responsibility and stop putting new builds where the sewage treatment plants can not cope.

“Councils assume that there is capacity. We need the housing but they need to check over capacity.

“This matters - this is our infrastructure.

“Most people may not know that there are five emergency overflows throughout the Quadring village. These pipes are not electric, they are designed that if there is a fault with the pumps, or blockage, then the overflow flows in and when it reaches a certain level into these overflow pipes.

“If the capacity is not in the system, these pipes will activate. Yes it better than in your home, but not if its near your home.”

She has launched an online petition in order to get public suppport into this issue.

It states: “I want Ofwat to introduce legislation that all sewage water companies are to have an up to date public list of all waste treatment plants, listing capacity in terms of population, and listing how many commercial and domestic customers they have on each. Plus any plans for investment in each treatment plant and a running report on the plants efficiency, and its overall condition.”

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