Sewage dumping likely to dominate Chichester constituency electioneering, says Jess Brown Fuller

Jess Brown-Fuller, the Liberal Democrat’s Parliamentary Candidate for Chichester, promised television viewers last week to make cleaner seas and harbours a political priority. “We have a vast expanse of coastline and its being damaged by Southern Water dumping raw sewage”, she said on ITV Meridien’s Last Word on Thursday 18 January. This article is contributed by a member of the community.

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Jess was asked to appear on the political debate show as she is one of the Southeast of England’s Parliamentary Candidates most likely to defeat an existing Member of Parliament in the next General Election. According to last week’s YouGov very large poll, published in The Daily Telegraph, Jess is on target to overturn a Conservative parliamentary majority in Chichester for the first time in 100 years. Last year the Liberal Democrats won a thumping 25 Chichester District Council seats compared with the Conservatives total of just 5 seats and Labour failing to win any.

Jess knows, if she wins, the problem of sewage spills in the area will not be an easy one to solve. However, any MP for a coastal district, whose economy relies on tourism, must make it a top priority, she claims.

Every year untreated sewage is dumped into Chichester and Pagham Harbours for thousands of hours and hundreds of sea swimmers fall ill around the UK, according to Surfers Against Sewage.

Jack Rankin (Con: Windsor), Jess Brown-Fuller (Lib Dem: Chichester), Helena Dollimore (Labour: Hasti

A new report by the Chartered Institution of Water and Environmental Management criticises the government for repeated failures to implement environmental rules. The water experts call on the next government to undertake an independent investigation into water companies, claiming a fresh approach and new regulation is needed to tackle the crisis. https://www.ciwem.org/news/a-fresh-water-future-report-has-been-launched

Jess believes that Chichester, with its newly redrawn boundaries emphasizing its coastal nature, could become a leading example of how to manage drainage and sewage treatment more sustainably. According to Jess, there are many options that need to be implemented including making more space for run-off water, not allowing more homes to be built without evidence that there will be sufficient drainage capacity, ensuring consistent and transparent monitoring of our Harbours.

Jess said “It will take a really committed local MP and Council prepared to look at the long term and embrace proper strategic planning - instead of short term sound bites - to tackle fundamental infrastructure issues in our area, such as drainage. We need to act now and take the future seriously”.