Motorhome Waste Dumping Sparks Coastal Pollution Fears In Scarborough

Camper van and motorhome owners emptying wastewater into highway drains have prompted calls for better education and signage along the Yorkshire Coast.

Raw wastewater from camper vans and motorhomes is being dumped directly into highway drains along the Yorkshire Coast.

Fears over the environmental impact of the practice have been raised following reports of visiting motorists using street gullies as makeshift sewers. The inappropriate disposal of waste threatens local bathing waters, as many coastal drains flow directly into the sea rather than into sewage treatment facilities.

The alarm was sounded by a Scarborough councillor who recently witnessed the dumping first-hand. Reports of vehicles deliberately parking over street grates to release their waste have prompted calls for urgent action to protect the coastline.

Councillor Subash Sharma raised the concerns directly with Yorkshire Water during a recent discussion about coastal pollution and public signage.

He has asked the utility company to intervene and help educate visitors about the severe consequences of emptying their tanks into the street network:

Just a clarification really, you mentioned in your talk about people tipping and showing signage as to where it ends up. I presume that's quite in a locality where it may go onto the coast and so forth. But the issue I want to raise is, I've seen myself caravans, motorhomes parking up onto a grate on the highway and releasing all their waste thing, and I've had it reported to me again in the last week. Is it worth your while getting in touch with clubs, caravan and motorhomers and whatnot to get the message out that this is not appropriate?

The appeal for help was directed to Miles Cameron, the Manager of Strategic Partnerships for Bathing Water at Yorkshire Water. He acknowledged that the issue often stems from a lack of public understanding, with many visitors inadvertently believing that highway drains are safely connected to the wider sewage treatment network.

In response to the concerns, Yorkshire Water has agreed to take action by engaging with camping and caravan clubs to improve awareness. The company is also considering the effectiveness of street signs that explicitly warn the public that certain drains lead straight to the sea.

The problem is not isolated to the Yorkshire Coast, having recently been identified as an issue in other seaside towns across the country, including Bognor.

Mr Cameron said:

I think there's some about education here as well. Some people inadvertently think, "Well, I can just, it's a drain, it's a gully, I can do it." If there's a sign saying "This goes to the sea," must might know there's that. But I think the educational bit is spot on, so in parallel, you've got the signage, which is, you know, pretty unambiguous, and then the education but so I I'm happy to take that action away just in terms of engaging with the local camping caravan, and maybe there's a bit of a broader national, to be honest with you. It's, as I said, we were only in Bognor a couple of weeks ago, same issue there. I believe, correct me if I'm wrong, it might be the same in Whitby. There were some specific sluices or identified localities where they could formally tip legally. I think there are in Whitby. I'm not sure if it's the case in Whitby, but it'd be interesting. And I think maybe in Filey but be interesting. To your point, are they clearly signposted? Because that's part of the education.

Discussions are now expected to focus on identifying and promoting legal disposal points. While specific sluices and localities for formal tipping are believed to exist in North Yorkshire towns such as Whitby and Filey, officials question whether these facilities are adequately signposted for visiting motorists.

Without clear directions to legal disposal sites and targeted education from caravan clubs, authorities warn that the inappropriate dumping of waste will continue to pose a risk to coastal water quality.

Meanwhile, Yorkshire Water's working on a pilot scheme to relaunch the national Yellow Fish, in a bid to reduce pollution of rivers, streams, canals, and lakes.  

The environmental awareness scheme involves installing a Yellow Fish symbol next to surface water drains, to remind people that any waste entering them goes directly to the nearest watercourse, including bathing waters, bypassing any form of treatment.  

This means anything that isn’t rain entering the drains could potentially lower water quality in the local environment, and cause harm to wildlife.