Bathing Beaches

HC Deb 04 March 1987 vol 111 cc864-5

7. Mrs. Clwyd

asked the Secretary of State for the Environment what responses he has received to his announcement of 3 February in respect of new bathing beach designations.

Mr. William Waldegrave

There has been a generally favourable response from water authorities, the press and interested parties.

Mrs. Clwyd

As the Minister knows, many of the beaches are filthy and do not conform to EEC standards. What is the estimated cost of bringing them up to EEC standards? Are the Government to make the money available and if so, when?

Mr. Waldegrave

First, the water authorities are self-financing and this must be something for water consumers to pay in their charges. The hon. Lady has asked about the time scale. We have just less than £300 million in the programme until 1990. I suspect that if we continue to spend at about that rate the programme will be finished towards the end of the century. That is a reasonable spreading of the programme so that there is not too much burden on water consumers in the short term.

Mr. Steen

Although the hon. Member for Fife, Central (Mr. Hamilton) may not be aware of this, three of the most beautiful beaches in the west country are in South Hams. They are also the most heavily polluted, because raw sewage comes straight out of a pipe that was built before the war right under the beach. Will my hon. Friend the Minister comment on that because it is seriously affecting tourism and the South-West water authority has said that it can do nothing about it?

Mr. Waldegrave

I was aware of that, as my hon. Friend constantly tells me about the beauty of the South Hams beaches. He has made a serious point about the resources involved and that must be for discussion within the context of the corporate plans of the various water authorities. It is worth my hon. Friend remembering that we have just now managed to restore the real terms cuts made by the Labour Government when the country surrendered control of its investment programmes to the IMF in 1976. We have just got back in real terms to the investment level of 1976.

Mr. Willie W. Hamilton

Is the Minister aware that I am looking forward very much to fighting the hon. Member for South Hams (Mr. Steen) on those beaches, and that the House is glad to see the hon. Gentleman here more than it used to?

Mr. Waldegrave

The hon. Gentleman has already started his campaign, using some of the effluent matter, which is probably how he will continue.

Mr. Terlezki

Does my hon. Friend agree that Wales depends a great deal on tourism? Since about 20 million British people will be taking their holidays abroad, is it not imperative to spend more cash to ensure that Welsh beaches are up to European standard, so that we can attract more tourism to the Principality?

Mr. Waldegrave

Indeed. I paid a very enjoyable visit to my hon. Friend's constituency last week and the point was made about the importance of tourism and of the beaches to tourism. The programme is steadily under way. Often, the investment is big, takes a long time and must secure planning permission; it cannot just be rushed through. A solid programme is under way.

Mr. Hancock

Does the Minister recognise that many water authorities are totally inadequately funded and do not have the resources, and that to wait until the next century to clean up those beaches is an indictment of the Government? Will he consider giving resources to improve the south coast beaches, especially in south Hampshire? Would it not be more appropriate to give some of that money to local authorities to do it now rather than to wait? Will the Minister confirm that his Department will consider the problem seriously and will not leave the under-funded water authorities to deal with it?

Mr. Waldegrave

The hon. Gentleman has got it a bit back to front. Southern Water was one of the water authorities which most strongly welcomed my recent announcement on this. Resources cannot be conjured up magically. This must be paid for by someone, and there must be a reasonable programme so that it does not cost too much in the short term. They are often big investment projects that cannot be conjured out of the air.

Mr. Boyes

Is the Minister really telling the people of Britain that they have to swim in raw or macerated sewage until the end of this century? The World Health Organisation. the European Community and the United States Environment Protection Agency have said that there is a potential health risk in swimming in sea water contaminated by raw sewage. Why do the Government continually ignore the standards that they have set? How can the Minister take such a negative, uncaring, irresponsible and parsimonious attitude? It is no wonder that the EC is taking the Government to court over their attitude.

Mr. Waldegrave

I am sorry that the hon. Gentleman should have fallen victim to understatement in this matter. The truth is that well before the end of this century, all our principal beaches will be clean. More than half of our 380 bathing beaches already meet European and World Health Organisation standards. There is no health risk, and the hon. Gentleman does a disservice to the House by using such scare tactics.