SOUTH West Water (SWW) wants to hear from all organisers of festive swims in Cornwall in a bid to make people aware if their bracing Christmas dip is safe or not. The company has written to all Cornwall councillors and town and parish councils in coastal locations in order to get the word out.
The move comes after one festive event was cancelled due to sewage fears. Surf therapy charity The Wave Project has pulled its annual Santa Surf event at Newquay ’s Fistral beach.
Its chief executive Ramon Van de Velde said “an ocean full of sewage is not a safe space – not good for your health and wellbeing” after a storm overflow discharge, and said the state of waterways is “a political issue, and something our politicians can and should solve”.
His comments were backed up by Cornish MP Ben Maguire, who told the Commons: “North Cornwall has world-class beaches and rivers but Santa swims have been cancelled due to the constant dumping of raw sewage. Meanwhile, water companies receive millions from bill payers but then the very next day give it away to their shareholders.”
He called for a “total ban on water bill rises” until the end of the sewage dumping “scandal”, which he described as “the best gift (Environment Secretary Steve Reed) could give (his) constituents this Christmas”.
SWW has now written to all local authorities in Cornwall, stating: “With the festive period almost upon us, we have been working hard at South West Water to understand what and when festive swims are happening around our coast to ensure we can help event organisers make the right choices to ensure these swims are held safely.
“Part of our role is to ensure they have the right information available to them on the potential risk to water quality. We are asking for event organisers to let us know about their event which will supplement the information we already receive from the relevant local council.
“We have received feedback from a number of officers and councillors that our festive season planning is not well known.” Hence they have asked for an information leaflet to be forwarded to all organisers of Santa swims and for them to add the details of their events at https://www.southwestwater.co.uk/festive-swims
Organisers are asked to come up with a contingency plan which “will make it easier to manage tasks like contacting participants, handling suppliers and making an insurance claim if you need to”. They are also asked to keep an eye on the WaterFit Live interactive map, which shows where bathing waters may be temporarily affected by storm overflows, which are typically used when heavy rainfall means the volume of wastewater exceeds the capacity of the system.
You can see the map here: www.southwestwater.co.uk/waterfitlive
The water company added: “Access to the right information is crucial in organising festive swims. We want to support you to ensure you organise a fun and safe event, by minimising the impact of reduced water quality.”