Countryside charity CPRE Hertfordshire is calling on councils in the county to block new development until adequate sewerage systems have been provided.
The organisation wants authorities to use “pre-commencement” planning conditions as sewage pollution of waterways reaches “crisis point”.
According to the Government’s sewage spill data for 2023, there were over 800 spills in Hertfordshire last year resulting in the release of raw sewage for a total duration of over 7,800 hours, or the equivalent of 325 days’ continuous flow.
This affected Hertfordshire’s rare chalk streams and rivers like the Stort, many of their tributaries, and the county’s three canals: the Stort Navigation, the Grand Union and the Lee Navigation.
The CPRE says that data clearly shows water companies need to do more, more quickly, to improve operational performance and reduce sewage pollution.
However, the charity adds that there are wider concerns including that existing sewerage infrastructure will not be able to cope with the “huge” housing growth proposed across Hertfordshire.
Abby Coften, chief executive of CPRE Hertfordshire said: “It is shocking to see how many of our waterways in Hertfordshire have been affected by sewage spills and yet developing an adequate sewerage infrastructure appears to be overlooked or deprioritised when it comes to new home developments.
“We want to see local planning authorities using pre-commencement planning conditions to prevent development from taking place until sufficient sewerage provision has been made. “We also call for tighter restrictions on developers to ensure they can demonstrate that adequate sewerage infrastructure is in place before the first dwellings are occupied.”
