First Minister John Swinney, wild swimming at Loch Lomond and Alex Cole-Hamilton. Above: Swimming in Luss Bay.
By Bill Heaney
It is not just from Dumbarton Castle to the Scottish Rocks, Cardross, Helensburgh and beyond that there is a filthy shoreline on the River Clyde.
LibDem leader Alex Cole-Hamilton told the Holyrood parliament on Thursday that there are many other towns with aspirations to attract tourism in a similar, “honking” position.
He told MSPs: “There are sanitary towels and wet wipes on the beach at North Berwick. There is raw sewage in Gala. There is a beach covered in thick brown discharge in Dumfries and Galloway. The River Almond is making swimmers sick. Paddle boarders get covered in sewage in the River Tay.
“Today, on world environment day, the Scottish Liberal Democrats are publishing new research showing thousands of complaints from members of the public about sewage—sewage that is “absolutely honking” in Dingwall. Songs were written about Scotland being the ‘land of the shining river’.
“Does the First Minister mind that his Government’s own water company is dumping so much sewage into it?”
The First Minister John Swinney told him: “On the question of water quality, 87 per cent of Scotland’s entire water environment is assessed by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency as having a high or good classification, an increase from 82 per cent in 2014.
“Obviously, I want to ensure that we have the highest-quality natural environment, and that we have water systems that are of the highest quality, too, and those figures indicate that the Government is making progress on the steps that we are taking to ensure that that is the case.”
Alex Cole-Hamilton accused the FM of apathy on a grand scale.
“The Scottish Liberal Democrats are calling for a new act of Parliament—a clean water act—to tackle the issue, because, under the Scottish National Party, communities are just expected to put up with it.
“Last week, Thames Water got fined £100 million for sewage dumping, but there are never any consequences here in Scotland. Is that because the First Minister knows that it is his Government that is at fault for this absolutely honking problem?”
The First Minister responded: “What is absolutely honking is Mr Cole-Hamilton’s attempt to conflate the situation in Scotland—and the operation of one of the strongest assets in our country in our publicly owned water network—with that of Thames Water. The privatisation of water in England has been an unmitigated disaster for the people of England and Wales, and I thank our predecessors for not taking such a foolish decision in the first place.
“We operate in a situation that is not perfect, but in which we have a high level of performance in relation to the quality of our natural environment. I do not think that it is a good advert for Mr Cole-Hamilton to undermine the strength of the natural environment of Scotland when we are spending £500 million on improving water quality in Scotland, and then to compare Scotland’s water—an asset to our country—to the folly that is privatisation in England and Wales.”
When the subject of sewage come up again later, Richard Leonard, the former Labour leader, jumped in at the deep end.
Scottish Water CEO Alex Plant, Labour’s Richard Leonard and SNP government Cabinet Secretary Gillian Martin.
He fumed: “Scottish Water workers are on strike this week. On Tuesday night, Scottish Water’s chief executive [Alex Plant] turned up at pay talks with the trade unions for less than two minutes.
“If Scottish Water’s chief executive officer can scoop up almost £500,000 a year, why can he not lead pay negotiations?
“So, will the First Minister instruct his acting cabinet secretary and direct the bosses of Scottish Water—whose inflation-busting salaries, bonuses, pensions and benefits he, as a minister, for more than a decade, personally supported and signed off—to do the job that they are lavishly rewarded for, enter meaningful negotiations this afternoon, make an acceptable offer and get this industrial dispute resolved once and for all?”
“That is the account that has been given to me. Talks start at 1 o’clock this afternoon, and Mr Leonard will not be surprised to hear what the Government is doing: we are encouraging a resolution of those issues to ensure that the matters are resolved amicably.”
Meanwhile, the classification of Luss Bay’s bathing water has been revealed as the summer season gets underway.
This year, Scotland starts the season with the highest ever number of bathing waters rated ‘excellent’ for water quality, with 97 per cent of sites now achieving sufficient or better quality.
The Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) have led a science-driven programme of monitoring, collaboration, regulation and investment.
In Helensburgh and Lomond, only Luss Bay is designated as a bathing water, and has been given a rating of ‘sufficient’ by SEPA.
MSP Gillian Martin, acting Scottish government net zero secretary, said: “I am pleased to see a record number of Scotland’s bathing waters rated as ‘excellent’ this year.
“This is testament to our continued investment in protecting and improving bathing waters across the country and targeted work in priority catchments.
“We want to make sure that as many people as possible can enjoy our bathing waters, which is why we continue to work closely with SEPA, Scottish Water and other public partners to protect and improve water quality.
“We encourage everyone to make use of SEPA’s resources and information to help make an informed decision about where and when to bathe.”
Water quality at all 89 designated bathing waters is routinely analysed during the bathing water season, which runs until September 15.