A legal case has been launched to force the government to take tougher action to stop water companies from dumping raw sewage into the UK's rivers and coastal waters.
A hearing in the High Court has been granted to the Good Law Project, the not-for-profit group that launched the challenge and which said has the potential to be one of the UK’s most significant environmental law cases in recent history.
The case to try and force a rewriting of the Storm Overflows Discharges Reduction Plan has been jointly brought with the Marine Conservation Society, seafood supplier Richard Haward’s Oysters and surfer Hugo Tagholm.
The legal challenge revived an old common law legal doctrine – the Public Trust Doctrine – to force Downing Street to get tough in its protection of the country's rivers and seas, the Good Law Project said.
Water companies, including Pennon Group PLC's (LSE:PNN) South West Water, Severn Trent PLC (LSE:SVT) and United Utilities Group PLC (LSE:UU.), are allowed to release raw sewage into rivers and the sea via their network of 14,500 storm overflows around across the country.
Over one year, 2021, Environment Agency data showed there were 162,000 hours of discharges into bathing waters and 200,000 hours of discharges into shellfish waters.
Under the government’s current plan to reduce storm overflow spills and their harmful impacts, the companies have until 2050 to meet several time-bound targets to limit storm overflow use and eliminate ecological harm from their discharges.
"We believe that giving the green light to this environmental vandalism for decades to come is not just unconscionable – it’s also unlawful," the challengers say, adding that the government plans "all but exclude" coastal waters from protection.
The Public Trust Doctrine, which has been recognised since the Middle Ages, says the state has a duty to safeguard vital natural resources and for the benefit of both current and future generations, including rights for people to fish, gather food and navigate tidal waters.
"Our challenge makes the case that the Public Trust Doctrine requires the government to take positive steps to safeguard our coastal waters. Winning this case could set a landmark precedent which would enable campaigners to use this doctrine for legal challenges to compel the Government to protect our shared natural environment."
You can read the permission decision here. We are waiting for the High Court to confirm a hearing date.
This is our chance to safeguard our coastal waters for generations to come, but we need your support. If you are able to make a donation to our case, you can do so here.