At a Glance
- Monitoring of Southend’s sewer overflows has improved since the 2022 Water Quality Summit.
- Residents are increasingly concerned about flooding, sewage incidents and pressure from housing growth.
- Several Blue Flag beach awards have been lost in recent years.
- Pollution incidents and deteriorating rivers and brooks are raising environmental concerns.
- Campaigners are calling for greater transparency, accountability and coordinated action.
Since the first Water Quality Summit in April 2022, the conversation around Southend’s waterways has broadened significantly.
What began as a focused discussion on Anglian Water’s performance has developed into a wider examination, of our coastal and river environments, the infrastructure that supports them.
At that initial summit, Anglian Water outlined plans to install Event Duration Monitoring (EDM) equipment on all Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) in Southend, alongside improvements to public water quality reporting. Those commitments have largely been delivered. EDM were installed ahead of schedule, and more detailed water quality updates are now available online on https://www.anglianwater.co.uk/environment/storm-overflows/storm-overflow-map
Anglian Water pledged £80 million through its Coastal Waters Improvement Package to tackle storm overflows, flooding, and long-term water resilience in the area.These are welcome steps. Yet while monitoring and investment have increased, many residents feel the wider situation has grown more concerning.
Flooding, Sewage and Lost Blue Flags
Southend has lost three Blue Flag awards in recent years, though the precise causes remain unclear. Flooding has increasingly affected communities in Thorpe Bay, Shoebury and Chalkwell. Two members of Southend Against Sewage reported their homes along with neighbouring properties, were flooded twice last year with sewage, because of faulty Anglian Water pipes lines. They are still awaiting a satisfactory response.
Housing Growth and Infrastructure Pressure
At the same time, significant local housing development is planned. Proposals for 23,000 new homes have raised serious questions about sewage capacity in and around Southend. In some areas, the system already appears strained. Estimates by Anglian Water suggest that around 10,000 additional homes could bring the network close to requiring a new treatment facility. Residents fear that current housing development are outpacing necessary infrastructure upgrades.
Decline of Rivers and Brooks
Our concern extends beyond beaches and CSOs. Southend’s rivers, streams, and brooks once vibrant natural habitats, have quietly declined. Older residents recall swimming in Prittle Brook near Temple Farm in the 1960s and 70s and fishing along its banks. Today, many of these waterways are blocked, polluted and largely devoid of wildlife.
One particular concern of ours is a culvert which appears to be discharging wastewater from beneath Anglian Water’s Stock Road site. When we tested water from the outfall last year, all the tests repeatedly returned elevated levels of E. coli. We wrote to the Environment Agency last year and requested they investigate.
Elsewhere, maintenance responsibilities appear fragmented. At Priory Crescent, two of three railway tunnels are obstructed with silt and debris, causing water to back up. Attempts to coordinate clearance with the Environment Agency, Network Rail and Southend City Council have highlighted a recurring problem: a lack of clear accountability between agencies.
Pollution in the Estuary
Further, this summer brought further alarm. Around the August bank holiday, black tar-like blobs began washing up along beaches from Grays to Clacton. We reported the situation to the Environment Agency, who confirmed that the Port of London Authority (PLA) were organising a clean-up but provided few details.
Follow a message from a member, who asked to remain anonymous, who revealed that an industrial incident had occurred at Gravesend nearly two weeks earlier. We contacted the PLA’s Director of Operations, who acknowledged and confirmed the volume of material lost and the impact of tidal movements had been underestimated, resulting in a significant pollution event in the Thames estuary. The story was later picked up nationally by the BBC, Observer Newspaper and The Londoner and locally by the Southend Echo.
Andrew Kersley who is a reporter for The Londoner, followed up on our information and used the Environmental Information Regulations 2004, and uncovered that since 2014 the Port of London has recorded 177 petrochemical spills. 106 in the past five years alone, averaging almost two per month.
A Call for Transparency and Action
Taken together, these issues paint a picture that cannot be ignored. Progress has been made, and investment has been promised, but the pressures on our waterways are increasing faster than the improvements being delivered. Our beaches, rivers, estuary, and green belt are not abstract assets. They are part of our identity, our health, and our local economy. What we are asking for, is not confrontation, but transparency, accountability, and timely action. We need clear answers, coordinated responsibility between agencies, and infrastructure that matches the scale of development being planned.
Above all, we need to restore public confidence that our waterways and precious green spaces are being properly protected. Not just monitored but safeguarded for future generations.
by Shah & Alex Haider
On behalf of Southend Against Sewage
southendagainstsewage.org