Full News Report

30th January 2025

Can water and sewerage systems cope with more housing?

GOVERNMENT proposals to increase housing numbers in Cornwall have prompted the Looe East and Deviock (includes Morval parish) County Councillor, Cllr Armand Toms, to once again raise his fears about how the local water supply, and especially the sewage outfalls, will cope.

Cllr Toms met with South West Water’s (SWW) Pre-Development Officer, Helen Steed, to re-iterate many of the issues he has highlighted during his 20-plus-years’ service as an independent member on the Truro-based county authority – and he concluded that she was prepared to help with Neighbourhood Development Plans and planning applications, so that any necessary and required works would be carried out.  

“You may not know that I tried to get Cornwall Council to make SWW a statutory consultee for all planning application,” he told the officer.

“This was due to the need to make sure that there is capacity in the system to provide for new developments.”

Cllr Toms said that having highlighted the work that SWW was, and is, doing with North Devon, it also cheered him to hear the progress now being achieved with Torridge and Exeter.

But, thinking closer to home, he warned: “You explained that the company (SWW) had reached out to all councils in the area so planning issues can be resolved prior to the commencement of development.

“You review over 30,000 applications but need to do more as the new numbers for housing across the area means that some developments with need pre work on your infrastructure (like in Truro).”

And he added: “The offer you made to work with the councils across Cornwall in the plans for the future needs and reviewing of NDPs will be of interest to many councillors and councils.

“I am asking those (councils) to take up the offer to work with SWW as you have done in other areas to make sure that developments are properly considered.

“Your offer extends to town and parishes, and questions via e-mail will be placed with the team in SWW to answer them.

“Can I propose that a meeting with planning at Cornwall Council is set up urgently for this all to happen?”

Cllr Toms, who attended SWW’s roadshow in Looe this week, said that he also wanted to thank the SWW team for their communications with the residents of Looe and district and the proposed £21-million investment in the area by 2030.