Gillian will reveal details of investment promised for Chichester’s water infrastructure at a public meeting on Friday evening as part of a new local plan for water.
The plan will also lay out actions taken by Southern Water, Ofwat, the Environment Agency, and others to deal with the problem of sewage outflows and other water pollution, as well as looking ahead to the next steps in the Gillian’s campaign to clean up Chichester’s waterways.
Chichester’s Plan for Water will be launched at the latest in Gillian’s series of online Chichester Water Conferences.
Friday’s event will host the CEO of Southern Water, Lawrence Gosden, and experts from Ofwat, Chichester Harbour Conservancy, Natural England and the Environment Agency.
Members of the public will be able to ask questions of water bosses during the meeting and hear from their MP and other experts about the latest action being taken to stop sewage outflows into the harbour.
Gillian said: “I have always been clear that sewage spills are unacceptable, and one of my priorities as the MP for Chichester has been to hold water companies to account for their unacceptable pollution of our waterways.”
Gillian has long campaigned for tough environmental standards, increased local investment, and harsher financial penalties for those who pollute waterways. This includes unlimited fines for polluters which were introduced by the Government in December of last year.
Speaking about the launch of the local plan for water, Gillian said: “The plan gets to the heart of the issue of sewage in Chichester, laying out the causes of outflows as well as the progress I, and other local partners, have made to date in dealing with this issue.
“Importantly the plan gives new details of much-needed investments by Southern Water in their latest business plan, fulfilling a promise I made to the people of Chichester to secure funding for our water infrastructure for the future and hold water companies to their commitments.”
The announcement of Chichester’s Plan for Water comes a week after Gillian hosted the latest in her series of regular regional water forums to hold Southern Water to account for their actions in Chichester Harbour and other waterways.
The regional forum was created by Gillian alongside her Conservative colleagues Alan Mak and Penny Mordaunt, and now enjoys membership from MPs from across the Southern Water catchment area.
