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Mr. Spring: Will the hon. Gentleman give way?
Mr. Spring: Will he answer my question?
Mr. Howarth: I will in a moment--first, I want to speak about the school at Dog Kennel hill in Southwark. I am not sure whether it is in the constituency of my right hon. Friend the Member for Camberwell and Peckham.
Mr. Howarth: Some 30 per cent. of children in that school come from homes in which English is the second language, more than half are eligible for free school meals and a quarter have special educational needs. But Ofsted inspectors have found that, by placing art, drama and music at the core of the school's agenda, the head teacher has succeeded in creating a school ethos that promotes confidence, moral development, enthusiastic involvement and pride. There is much more that I would have loved to have the opportunity to say, because the experience in that school exemplifies beautifully the interplay between the arts and education.
The hon. Member for West Suffolk asked about conditional exemption. The principle is not negotiable. We believe it to be absolutely right that where there are valuable tax concessions, such as capital gains or inheritance tax, the public must have a right of access to those items which have been conditionally exempted. I do not think that there is any dispute between us on that.
We are, of course, more than willing to negotiate about the practice to ensure that the manner in which the policy is implemented is civilised, courteous, practical and realistic. I understand the apprehensions that have been expressed about security; I understand the apprehensions of elderly people, perhaps a little fragile, who may be worried about the intrusion of strangers into their home. We wish to find the most constructive way of implementing this policy, and we will monitor whatever that happens to be.
The health of our culture and its prospects are central to our national life, the quality of life for our society and citizens, our economy and our social cohesion. We need a policy that is sensibly integrated and coherent locally, nationally and internationally. The Government are fully committed to playing their part.
It being half-past Two o'clock, the motion for the Adjournment of the House lapsed, without Question put.
Ordered,
Motion made, and Question proposed, That this House do now adjourn.--[Mr. McNulty.]
Mr. John Whittingdale (Maldon and East Chelmsford):
This may well be the last Adjournment debate on a Friday in this millennium. It therefore gives me particular pleasure to raise a matter of considerable importance to my constituents in Maldon. I do not know whether the Under-Secretary of State for the Environment, Transport and the Regions, the hon. Member for Sunderland, South (Mr. Mullin) has ever been to Maldon, but I recall that he is a close friend of the right hon. Member for Chesterfield (Mr. Benn) who lives in the district. He may well have heard about the town from his right hon. Friend, but I should be happy to show him around.
Maldon is one of the two oldest towns in Essex. It was originally a Roman settlement, later taken over by the Saxons. Students of English literature will know it from the epic poem written about the battle of Maldon just over 1,000 years ago. The poem records an occasion on which a raiding party of Danes sailed up the Blackwater to be met by an English force led by Brythnoth, earldorman of Essex. In the ensuing battle, Brythnoth was killed and the English were defeated, but the Danes sustained such heavy losses that they had no choice but to retreat.
In describing Maldon, the town's official guide says:
The reason for my brief commercial is that I wish to explain why the port is still at the very heart of the town and why its loss would be a major disaster. Maldon is also famous for its mud--each year, the Maldon mud race attracts many visitors. In recent years, however, the volume of mud has steadily increased. The port is slowly silting up. Various factors are probably responsible for that, including rising sea levels and climate change. But the water that once poured over Beeleigh weir into the estuary has been reduced to a trickle so that the flushing of the estuary no longer occurs. That has happened because huge amounts of water are being abstracted from the river by Essex and Suffolk Water to serve the local population.
In 1968, a detailed survey of the river was carried out by Sir Alexander Gibb and Partners. The then water company extracted about 20 per cent. of the natural flow, and the survey concluded that that had a major influence on the estuary's siltation. In summer, the proportion abstracted is now effectively 100 per cent., with only occasional storm flows discharging over the weir.
The original licence granted to the company for extraction took no account of the siltation effect as the proportion then permitted was thought not to cause
difficulties. Increases in the amount abstracted which have occurred since then have required only amendments to the original licence, so that the problem has never been properly addressed. I do not suggest that Essex and Suffolk Water should not be allowed to abstract from the river. Nor do I suggest that they should not be permitted to take still more. I fully recognise that need exists. Essex is the driest county in England. During the past 50 years, its population has doubled, as has the water consumption of each individual. Already, Essex and Suffolk Water is planning to supply another 60,000 houses by 2015. If the Crow report's recommendations were to be accepted, Essex would be required to take another 178,000 houses. The Minister knows that I and my fellow Essex Members fiercely oppose those recommendations, and I know that this is a matter of concern to you, Mr. Deputy Speaker.
This is not the occasion for a detailed debate about future housing provision in Essex. Suffice it to say that just one of our many objections is that almost no thought appears to have been given to how to meet the huge increase in demand for water that will result if the proposals go ahead. Undoubtedly, we will need to find more water resources to meet demand.
More than 50 per cent. of Essex's water comes from outside the county, much of it from the Ely Ouse transfer scheme, which may not continue for much longer. Essex and Suffolk Water intends to increase its reservoir capacity and has a good record in reducing leakage, encouraging water conservation and promoting the take-up of water meters. However, I accept that it still has a problem in that it faces at least a temporary shortfall in available supply.
To close the gap between potential demand and supply, the company has proposed a scheme for recycling the treated effluent that is currently discharged into the Blackwater. Instead of being lost to the sea, the waste water will receive further treatment at Langford and then be introduced into the River Chelmer at Rushes lock. I am assured that, at that stage, the quality of the water will already be higher than that of the water in the river. It is for that reason that the water company needs to apply for a discharge licence. However, the intention is to have the water remain in the river for only a short time to take advantage of the natural purification process. The company then proposes to abstract a similar amount of water further down that will undergo more treatment at Hanningfield or Langford before going back into the drinking water supply.
To support its proposal, Essex and Suffolk Water commissioned a report from HR Wallingford. In its summary, it states:
The HR Wallingford report at least acknowledges that the proposal would increase siltation in the estuary. However, late in the day, Essex and Suffolk Water produced a new report that it had commissioned from Professor Pethick, the chair of coastal science at the university of Newcastle. He concludes that the siltation that is taking place is not caused by abstraction at all and adds that the proposal to increase the amount of water taken from the river could lead to less siltation. I understand that he is also the consultant to the Environment Agency on such matters. I am slightly surprised that he can serve two masters.
Professor Pethick's conclusions are strongly disputed not only by my constituents but by Professor Patrick Holmes of the department of civil and environmental engineering at Imperial college, London. I will not go into his analysis, which is based on calculation of the shear stress imposed on sediment by water flowing over it, but he points out that Professor Pethick's conclusion that the general accretion in the region is a result of sea level rise seems to be at odds with the statement on page 3 of his report, which states:
On 9 November, I received a letter from the area manager of the Environment Agency, stating that the agency was minded to grant permission for both authorisations. However, the letter also proposed that a siltation steering group be formed, chaired by the agency and comprising local government officers, port users, English Nature and the water company. It was intended that the group would advise on mitigation measures and would recommend to the agency that, should the scheme have an adverse impact on the estuary, it would have the power to ask that the authorisations be revoked.
However, the Environment Agency's letter stated that the remit of the group would be limited to siltation caused by the recycling scheme, and should not include siltation caused by "natural" processes. That is nothing like sufficient. Who is to agree the amount of extra siltation caused by the scheme? It appears to be the siltation group, but how will the group be expected to meet the cost of obtaining expert opinion? In any case, according to Professor Pethick, the scheme will cause no extra siltation--in fact, it will lead to a reduction.
Furthermore, the port and estuary are already silting up and the scheme will do nothing to stop that. At the most, it might mean that the silting up will take a little longer than it otherwise would. The port of Maldon is being slowly choked by mud. Unless action is taken, it will soon
be lost for ever. Those licence applications represent an opportunity to take that action, and to deal with the effects not just of this recycling scheme but of the total amount of abstraction being carried out by Essex and Suffolk Water.
Will the Minister therefore insist on stronger conditions than those currently proposed by the agency? Specifically, I would like the company to carry out a one-off dredging exercise to remove much of the mud that is currently there, and to deepen the channel. Once that is done, the company should have the responsibility of maintaining the profile of the river bed at that new level, by dredging whenever it becomes necessary. That is the only way to save the port of Maldon.
In conclusion, I express my thanks to those of my constituents who have worked tirelessly to highlight the danger to the very survival of the port. I have received many letters, but I especially acknowledge the efforts of the Maldon District Marine Association, the Maldon Riverside Association, Mr. Brian Kennel of Downs Road boatyard in Maldon and Mr. Frank Thackray.
However, it is not only in Maldon that the loss of the port would be regarded as a tragedy. The Sailing Barge Association, based in London, wrote to me that
That Mr. Robert Syms be discharged from the Procedure Committee and Mr. Eric Forth be added to the Committee.--[Mr. McNulty.]
26 Nov 1999 : Column 920
2.30 pm
"The town of Maldon, set on its hill, surveying the whole of the District, was traditionally a thriving port with waterways the 'motorways' of their day. The Blackwater and Crouch were navigated by sailing barges whereas the Chelmer, when adapted as a canal, was used for horse-drawn barges. Many of the most strikingly beautiful sailing barges remain today and can be seen working to and from the Hythe quay although their 'payloads' nowadays are tourists and educational groups."
The port is now seldom used for commercial traffic, except by Greens flour mills, which imports grain. However, Hythe quay is a major attraction for visitors who come to see the magnificent Thames barges which are for many the abiding image of Maldon. Several small businesses still depend on the estuary for their livelihood.
"With the proposed reduction of 30 million litres a day of wastewater into the river the proportion of the time when the natural flows would be insufficient to erode the slack water deposits would be increased. In Maldon the increase would be from just under 10 per cent. of the time to just over 40 per cent . . . In the long term, periods of high flows will be sufficient to re-erode accumulated deposits in the low water channel, and depths will be maintained to the same levels as now. However, in the shorter term there may be greater losses in depth in the channel than presently occur."
In fact, my constituents believe that the position will be worse than that. First, Essex and Suffolk Water now wishes to abstract not 30 million litres but 40 million litres a day. Secondly, the storm water flows over the weir are becoming increasingly rare as a result of climate change.
"these accretion rates are an order of magnitude higher than those predicted as a response to sea level rise."
Professor Holmes concludes:
"the percentage of time for which deposits will not be re-eroded at Maldon will increase by a factor of four under the condition proposed.
In order that Essex and Suffolk Water's proposal can go ahead, the company needs licences from the Environment Agency, both to discharge into and then to abstract water from the River Chelmer. I have had regular contact with the agency, which told me that the effect of the proposal on siltation levels in the port of Maldon was a relevant factor which would be taken into account. That was also confirmed by the Minister, in his letter to me of 20 September.
Further consideration indicates that this is likely to be an under-estimate, based on expected consolidation of the deposits in periods of very low or zero freshwater flows."
"there is no other barge port like Maldon . . . Should the river become unnavigable for Thames barges, then Maldon, the river and the barges will be the poorer for it. The town will lose a key part of its heritage and indeed a central component of its tourist image, the barges their most essential charter base."
In its letter to the Environment Agency, the Association of Bargemen, based in Kent, states that
"the scouring action of the water flowing down the river when the tide has left is absolutely essential to the survival of the port of Maldon. Without it the river will rapidly silt up making it impossible for vessels to navigate in the upper reaches. The result will be disastrous for the port. The barges and boats will have to find another home. The boatyards will close down. All the specialist skills in building and repairing traditional vessels will move away . . . If you allow this scheme to go through it will be the end of all that history and we will be responsible for the ruination of yet another part of Britain's heritage."
The licence applications are currently sitting on the Secretary of State's desk. If he grants them, without the conditions that I have set out, he will be responsible for the loss of the port of Maldon and all of that heritage.
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