Protestors have unveiled a satirical blue plaque today (28) claiming Gedling MP Tom Randall “voted to block a law requiring water companies to dump less raw sewage into our waterways and seas 20 Oct ‘21”.
Local protestors from Extinction Rebellion put up the blue plaques by the River Trent in Stoke Bardolph in a spoof ceremony as part of a national day of action called Dirty Water to highlight the shocking state of our waterways.
Arthur Williams, a lecturer from Carlton, and a member of Nottingham Extinction Rebellion said: “We’ve watched in horror as our rivers and seas have become open sewers since October 2021, when the government voted down a proposal to stop water companies pumping waste directly into our rivers.
“They justified this by claiming that the proposal was too expensive, despite the massive profits water companies have made over the years. These plaques shine a light on the government’s failure to protect our waterways, the natural world, and all of us.”
“The government’s failure to properly tackle the issue of sewage pollution has been hugely controversial. Last summer over a hundred beaches were closed to the public after a series of sewage discharges by water companies left the sand and sea contaminated with human sewage.”
An Extinction Rebellion Nottingham spokesperson said: “Some MP’s are claiming that if we didn’t allow this to happen sewage would flood into people’s homes. This is simply fear-mongering to cover up the fact they’ve failed to pass laws saying that the water companies have a responsibility to their customers and the environment, not just pocketing profits from selling us water.”
Gedling MP Tom Randall today hit back telling Gedling Eye that blue plaques should be reserved for ‘commemorate historic events rather than fake news’.
He said: “Extinction Rebellion are ignoring the facts and are instead playing politics.
“The facts are that these: this Conservative Government has done more than any other Government to increase water quality. The storm overflow discharge reduction plan was introduced as part of the Environment Act and requires water companies to invest in infrastructure that will reduce the need for storm overflows. It was a Conservative Government that ramped up the monitoring of storm overflows – from 6% in 2013 to 90%, with 100% being monitored by the end of this year – that helps us better understand the issue and it is this Government that has increased funding for Environment Agency inspections. Fines from water companies are now ringfenced so that the money doesn’t go to the Treasury but stays with the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs for environmental projects.
“I’ve seen the Liberal Democrats’ tweet about this subject. They’ve got more front than Brighton: Liberal Democrat and Labour MPs voted against the Environment Act, which, quite frankly, is a disgrace. They offer words but this Government is taking action. The Environment Act is now law and is helping to reduce the use of storm overflows.”
About 100 Dirty Water blue plaques will be unveiled across England on Saturday.
Tom Randall has conveniently forgotten to mention that he erected a blue plaque to himself by the Inn for a Penny.