The High Court has rejected claims that the government’s Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan is unlawful, following claims brought forward by the Marine Conservation Society, Richard Haward’s Oysters, Hugo Tagholm and WildFish.
Mr Justice Holgate, who dismissed the challenge on Friday, stated “It is necessary to bear in mind that the claimants’ challenge is to the lawfulness of the plan“. He agreed with the defendant’s submission that the Plan is a statement of the “general political will” of the Secretary of State, and went on to say “The Plan is to contain policies for reducing discharges and impacts across the country as a whole. It is not required to lay down measures for dealing with dangers or hazards at specific locations. These are matters for the enforcement agencies.“
In response to the judgement, a Defra spokesperson said:
“We are pleased with today’s judgment. Our plan sets strict targets for water companies to address storm overflows, and the Court has highlighted that it goes further than existing legislation.
“We are clear that the volume of sewage being discharged into our waters is utterly unacceptable, and water companies need to clean up their act.
“That is why we are driving forward more investment, stronger regulation and tougher enforcement.”
Following the ruling, Good Law Project stated:
“We are disappointed that the High Court has today ruled in the Government’s favour on the rump of our challenge to its Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan, which allows water companies to continue to dump sewage until 2050 and beyond.”
