Concerns have been raised about the transparency of meetings aimed at addressing bathing water quality issues in Scarborough.
The fourth Scarborough South Bay Water Quality Summit took place on October 27, bringing together senior representatives from the council, Yorkshire Water, the Environment Agency, DEFRA, and McCain Foods.
However, concerns have been raised about the transparency of the summits, which are also attended by local councillors and Scarborough and Whitby’s MP, amid calls for local campaign groups and stakeholders to be invited to attend.
Coun Rich Maw, the representative for the Weaponness and Ramshill division, has urged the council’s leader to address “a clear lack of public trust in the summit process on bathing water quality improvement”.
Coun Maw asked
“Given the leader’s recent comments that future large-scale summits may now give way to smaller technical working groups, can he confirm that these new arrangements will not mean discussions are taken behind closed doors,”
He added that groups such as Surfers Against Sewage, which have been prominent in raising local awareness about bathing water pollution, should be formally invited to take part.
Speaking at a full meeting of the authority on Wednesday, November 12, NYC’s leader Coun Carl Les, said:
“The council took the initiative to create the summits and bring key partners together to tackle this important issue.
“The structure was designed to enable partners to openly discuss the variety of factors at play, and enable us to challenge them about their solutions.”
Had the meetings been public, they might not have been “as productive,” said Coun Les, adding that the views of the local community were communicated via councillors and the local member of parliament.
The leader added that upcoming area committee meetings “will provide an excellent opportunity for all interested groups to engage with the findings of recent reports.”
In a written report to the council, Coun Les noted:
“It was pleasing to hear from the EA that year-on-year improvements in water quality were being seen in the data taken from Scarborough South Bay, and that recent work had been completed by McCains in their wase water treatment plant, and by Yorkshire Water at the Wheatcroft Combined Storm Overflow.
“Both projects were discussed at the first Summit meeting, and it is positive to see those upgrades completed.”
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