Meanwhile Cliff Roney, a GMB activist who has worked in the water industry for more than 40 years, said: “I have seen this industry at its very best and now at its very worst.<\/p>\n
“If the industry is not brought back into public ownership quickly, we are heading towards a national catastrophe.”<\/p>\n
Water UK said it was working to end sewage spills “as fast as we physically can”.<\/p>\n
“That’s why we are tripling investment over the next five years to halve spills from storm overflows and upgrade the capacity of 1,700 wastewater treatment works,” a spokesperson said.<\/p>\n
“This is part of a record \u00a3104bn investment programme \u2013 the largest in the industry’s history \u2013 to stop sewage entering our rivers and seas, secure our water supplies and support economic growth.”<\/p>\n
Southern Water’s director for environment and innovation, Nick Mills, said its 10-year, \u00a31.5bn Clean Rivers and Seas Plan was “already starting to make a difference”.<\/p>\n
“In Whitstable, we’re harnessing both AI and nature-based solutions, and we’re investing \u00a390m in improvements to Swalecliffe Wastewater Treatment Works. Together, these measures will dramatically reduce storm overflows in the area.”<\/p>\n
According to Defra’s Bathing Water Quality site, the most recent classification for Leysdown is rated good, based on samples taken from 2022 to 2025.<\/p>\n
There have been no pollution incidents reported there, the website states. <\/p>\n
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