By Carole Dennett
The Isle of Wight could eventually require an entirely new sewage treatment to cope with future growth, Southern Water executives revealed during a special meeting of the Isle of Wight Council’s Environment and Community Protection Committee on Thursday.
Senior managers from the company were questioned by councillors over sewage spills, infrastructure capacity, future housing growth and public confidence in the utility.
During the discussion, Southern Water’s Chief Operating Officer, Tim McMahon, acknowledged that future growth and tightening environmental standards could eventually require a major expansion of the Island’s wastewater infrastructure. He told councillors he expected the company would ultimately need “another sewage treatment works of the sort of Sandown size and scale” to cope with future demand.
The admission came as councillors repeatedly challenged the company over whether its existing network can accommodate hundreds of new homes planned across the Island. In a further significant statement, Mr McMartin said Southern Water intended to identify areas where development should effectively be put on hold until sufficient infrastructure capacity is available.
Describing the proposed approach, he said future mapping would show areas where development can proceed and others where it cannot. “This area is green; it’s got capacity in the system,” he said. “This area is red; don’t come here.”
He also admitted Southern Water had not always been firm enough in the past when responding to development pressures, adding that there were areas where the company should have made it clearer that additional housing could not be supported until investment had taken place.
On future water supplies he said that he believes there are not the right ground conditions on the Island – and it would take “hundreds of acres”. He said that the option then is either desalination or water recycling – and desalination is worse for the environment.
The meeting also exposed the continuing breakdown in trust between Southern Water and many Islanders. Councillors spoke of widespread anger, frustration, and a lack of confidence in the company, with several members questioning why residents facing rising bills were still seeing sewage discharges and beach pollution alerts.
Asked directly about public feeling towards the company, Mr McMartin responded: “I really recognise customers are not happy with Southern Water.” He accepted that confidence would only return if residents saw measurable improvements, saying the company needed to “demonstrate improvements in performance for people to trust us”.
Southern Water said it would return to the committee with further information on a number of issues raised during the meeting, and provide updates on future performance targets.