Water supply, and the availability of water to deal with sewage, are hugely important in determining how many houses can be built. The Environment Agency has monitoring evidence to demonstrate that the River Loddon is polluted, and that this pollution is because of excessive phosphate levels. The phosphate levels mean that the River Loddon fails to meet the standards expected under the European Water Framework Directive.

One of the ways to reduce the amount of phosphates is to switch to phosphate free detergents, which is one step that we can all take to help. But the more serious issue is the amount of phosphate that the sewage treatment works at Chineham is permitted to discharge into the river. This is currently set by the Environment Agency at 1mg per litre and would need to be tightened to 0.13mg per litre for the river to achieve good ecological status.

Maria said: “Phosphate pollution damages the animal and plant life of the River Loddon and we need to find a proper solution to this problem. I am asking the Minister and the Environment Agency to look at this and see what can be done to reduce the consent levels for the Sewage Treatment Works. Without this, it is hard to see how the water quality in the River can be improved.”