Building thousands of new homes in Harrogate could lead to more raw sewage ending up in the River Nidd, the Harrogate & District Green Party has warned.
A Stray Ferret investigation published this morning revealed Yorkshire Water released raw sewage into rivers and becks such as the Nidd, Ure and Coppice Beck for 36,000 hours last year.
Water companies are legally allowed to release sewage through overflow pipes when the sewage system becomes too full.
New housing developments are being built on Skipton Road and Penny Pot Lane.
With more developments proposed for Otley Road. it could mean over 4,000 new homes being built on the western side of Harrogate alone.
The Greens say Oak Beck, which runs from near Beckwithshaw, through the west of Harrogate and into the River Nidd, could suffer the brunt of this.
Oak Beck
Arnold Warneken, who is standing for the party in the upcoming North Yorkshire County Council Bilton and Nidd Gorge by-election, said more needed to be done to tackle the problem.
He said:
“Whose job is it to mitigate the negative impacts of housing developments on the environment?
“We would like to see that any developments in this area are built with consideration to the combined sewer overflows, that Yorkshire Water fixes long-standing issues, and ensures new housing developments do not exaggerate these issues.”
Read more
- Raw sewage released into Harrogate district rivers for 36,000 hours last year
- River Nidd fails water pollution tests due to raw sewage
Yorkshire Water said yesterday it is investing £137m in storm overflow improvements, investigation and increased monitoring by 2025.
“We are also investigating the environmental impact of 158 frequent spilling overflows as part of the Water Industry National Environment Programme.
“As frequency of spill does not necessarily equate to environmental harm and environmental permits do not set spill threshold limits, these investigations will be key to understanding environmental impact, and what action needs to be taken to resolve any impacts.”
