THE cleanliness of Cornwall’s coast and waterways was top of the agenda at the Healthy Rivers and Seas Summit took place, convened by council Cornwall Council leader Cllr Leigh Frost and chaired by BBC Radio Cornwall presenter Julie Skentelbery at New County Hall yesterday.

The event brought together the authorities, agencies and organisations involved in water quality, with the ability to identify and deliver solutions to the ongoing issues facing Cornwall residents.

The summit took place following a major sewage overflow in the village of Stithians, and two months of named storms and prolonged periods of torrential rain, which have left the ground waterlogged and drains struggling to cope; and a few days after Channel 4 aired Dirty Business, a drama about sewage pollution that is hotly tipped to be the next Mr Bates and the Post Office.

Cornwall Council passed a motion 'Working to End the Sewage Scandal' in September 2025, which committed the authority to work with stakeholders to address repeated pollution incidents. As part of that, the summit aimed to explain how organisations are working to tackle pollution in Cornwall’s rivers and beaches, looking at trends and challenges including sewage discharges, land management, and urban runoff; and to hold parties to account, while acknowledging that water health and quality is complex and requires collective action and personal responsibility.

Ms Skentelbery asked: “Have we hit rock bottom, or is there still further to fall?”

Carolyn Cadman, chief sustainability and natural resources officer at South West Water, said the company had invested in 291 extra storm overflows, at a cost of £780 million, prioritising areas that were close to bathing waters and shellfish populations.

Laurence Couldrick, chief executive of Westcountry Rivers Trust, described the problem as “long and complex”, due to factors as varied as sewage, farming run-off, pharmaceutical leaching and the illegal activities of individuals, and therefore impossible to treat generically.

“Rivers are the lifeblood of communities, and we need to understand the health of our rivers,” he said. “The good news is the past 20 years have seen an increase in scrutiny and available data.”

Giles Bristow, chief executive of Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), decried “systemic failure” of the water companies and regulators, and asked those present to remember Heather Preen, who was infected by E.coli and died following a visit to a Blue Flag beach in Devon in 1999.

“Our mission now is to try and turn that around and put public health and the envirtonment before profit,” he said. “Until we do, we’ll see continued pollution by water companies, putting lives at risk.”

Dr Claire Eatock, chair of Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Marine and Coastal Partnership, implored people not to fall victim to ”blue blindness”, adding: “We’re not bothered about blue stuff until it turns brown. We need to be cleverer than that.”

Lord Taylor, Local Nature Partnership Board, chaired afternoon sessions. “Forty years ago, all sewage was pumped directly into the sea. At best, it was turned into sludge first. Now it is treated, but some is still going into the sea.

“What is at rock bottom is public tolerance. There has been a fundamental change in mood, and people are not prepared to see what’s going on now.”

As part of a question submitted in advance of the summit and read out by MS Skentelbery, Cornish resident Paul said: “Cornwall beaches are among the best across the globe, but it won’t be long before we become a laughing stock with no one wanting to come here.”

Many present questioned the wisdom of building more housing to meet critical demand, if infrastructure can’t cope with, as one person put it, “more people using toilets”. Cllr Loic Rich, cabinet member for environment and cabinet change at Cornwall Council, advised that it was so much the number of houses built but “how we build them – looking at well-designed, sustainable urban drainage, and making sure national planning framework gives us the power to build housing estates without adverse impact.”

The ownership of septic tanks in rural areas was a hot topic, with the owner of a company that empties them explained how sewage was having to be transported to Bristol due to lack of slots available locally with South West Water. “It’s not sustainable and the carbon footprint is terrible,” she said. “We need help – now.”

Landowners were represented by the National Farmers Union and the Country Land and Business Association (CLA), whose deputy president – Lizard landowner Victoria Vyvyan – said: “One thing Cornwall Council can do is work on planning. We can get grants to increase the size of slurry tanks, but we can’t get planning consent. That would make a massive difference right now.”

While it was perhaps to be expected that the water company and regulator would come in for some flak, speakers also asked individuals to be mindful of their own responsibilities.

Lady Vyvyan was “shocked” to learn the average person in the UK uses approximately 152 litres of water daily. “We have to find ways to reduce this, and to male sure people don’t think it’s their right to use as much water as they want.”

Mark Rice, area director for Devon and Cornwall at the Environment Agency, asked residents to “get a water meter and report pollution incidents” – and even, if inspired by the event, to get a job with the regulator.

Ms Cadman asked householders to stick to the 3Ps – “pee, poo and paper”, while Dr Eatock called for everyone to “see the seascape as much as the landscape.”

Cllr Leigh Frost concluded the event by saying: “When you become leader of the council, you have a responsibility to everyone in Cornwall, even though you don’t have the power to change everything.

“It’s essential to bring people together and facilitate conversations – individually, we have the passion to make a difference. We absolutely have to tackle these issues, and now, otherwise it won’t get better – it will only get worse. We can all do our bit, and tick it off when we’ve achieved it.”