Simple remedy in definition

of its wastewater treatment works.

“We have also concluded that it has failed: to have adequate systems of planning, governance and internal controls in place to be able to manage its wastewater treatment works; to accurately report information about the performance of these works; and to properly carry out its general statutory duties as a sewerage undertaker, to make provision for effectually dealing with and treating wastewater.”

The Water Quality Assessment report produced by Amec Foster Wheeler as part of CDC’S Local Plan evidence base was met with widespread incredulity in Southbourne, given that it apparently failed to consider the scale of housing development proposed that would feed into the Thornham Waste Water Treatment Works, among other issues.

This was followed by a decision by the planning committee to accept the officers’ recommendation not to challenge Southern Water’s claim that Thornham WWTW, Nutbourne pumping station and the pipe network had sufficient capacity to handle a major new development. This claim was contrary to what they had stated at the time that planning permission for the site was given.

Such new evidence as could eventually be extracted from Southern Water after much effort by the case officer was still limited and unconvincing.

Ofwat’s report must throw in to doubt the reliability of the Local Plan’s evidence base with regards to Southern Water’s ability and willingness to cope with the scale of proposed development, so I hope that councillors will work together to demand that Southern Water provide further, verifiable data relating to the capacity of their network so that we can plan, confident in the knowledge that Southern Water are not ‘hiding the truth’ from us as they have admitted doing with regards their bill payers. On June 6 you printed my letter calling for West Sussex County Council to think again about adopting the International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance (IHRA) definition of antisemitism, partly because it ignores the majority of antisemitic incidents.

I also pointed out that it will have a chilling effect on efforts to achieve justice for

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