"It is morally unacceptable and it should be stopped.” - Hundreds line the streets of Chichester district to protest sewage in harbour

Conservation groups from across the district are calling for action against the urbanisation of the harbour and the east and west corridor.

Residents lined the streets across the A259, from the Saxon Corner to the Fishbourne roundabout, Hayling beachfront to Langstone and along the A286 from West Wittering to Apuldram to protest.

Libby Alexander from the Save Our South Coast Alliance, at the protest, said: “We’re all here at Fishbourne today, demonstrating against the state of sewage. “We’ve got far too many developments in the district and the sewage distributor Southern Water cannot cope.

“So they take the sewage to their wet water works when it’s high tide and let out all the sewage into our harbour.

"Our harbour is much protected, it’s an AONB (Area of Natural Beauty) but its seeming to be downgraded because of this sewage pouring into it and (Environment Minister) Rebecca Pow said in 2022 in her conference that we should jail all the water works CEO’s because they are not doing their job correctly.

"It is morally unacceptable and it should be stopped.”

Residents were asked to bring banners and items to make noise, and wear high vis and colourful clothing to make themselves as seen as possible.

Many different groups also came down to protest the development around the distriact and harbour, including the cycling group ChiCycle.

The Mayday Action Group, who were one of the organisers for the event also penned an open letter to current and future district councillors imploring more action to be taken to preserve the Area of Natural Beauty.

Previous protests have taken place in the area regarding the overdevelopment of housing in the district like in January 2022 where campaigners opposed to the urbanisation of the Manhood Peninsula and Harbour Villages took to the streets of Chichester in protest.

In 2021, protesters from coastal villages near Chichester Harbour and the Manhood Peninsula braved the soaring heat yesterday (July 20) to resist plans for more than 6,000 new homes in the area.

Protestors from coastal villages near Chichester Harbour and the Manhood Peninsula came together to resist plans for more than 6,000 new homes in the pipeline.

Southern Water have been contacted for a response.