Plans for city’s water and anti-semitism
On Friday, I held my latest Chichester Water Conference, where over 250 constituents registered to ask questions of key stakeholders including Southern Water, Ofwat and the Environment Agency.
I’m a great believer in transparency when it comes to our sewage infrastructure. That is why it is crucial that the Government have increased the monitoring of combined sewage outflows since 2010 from just 7% to 100% by the end of 2023.
I was also delighted to launch Chichester’s Plan for Water at the conference. This is a roadmap of actions taken to stop sewage outflows, and future initiatives to reduce water pollution. The plan details of a £56 million investment from Southern Water across our constituency over the next five years. This includes £30 million for a new state of the art UV water treatment facility at Thornham, as well as funding for upgrades in central Chichester, Lavant, Sidlesham, Bosham, and Pagham.
The huge investment from Southern Water is a result of the long-term campaign I and others in our area have led to clean up our waterways and to hold Southern Water to account for the pollution we have experienced.
The additional infrastructure funding we have secured is of course excellent news, but I will also continue to seek further new and innovative nature-based approaches to improve our water infrastructure and stop sewage outflows in our constituency for good.
Last week was also a very poignant week for me as I visited the former Nazi concentration camp, Auschwitzbirkenau.the reality of seeing the camp at Auschwitz firsthand was deeply moving and only underscored to me the incomprehensible and senseless nature of the violence and persecution faced by so many during the Holocaust.
My visit was part of my on-going work as Secretary of State for Education to counter anti-semitism in our schools and universities.
For the first time in a long time, Jewish people in many countries, including the UK, are feeling threatened and scared and are feeling more subjected to levels of hatred that they never thought would be possible. In our schools we need our children to know and understand what humanity is capable of and the importance of speaking out against intolerance. It is up to all of us to educate ourselves and ensure that when we say ‘never again’, we really mean it.