This Friday I am delighted to be hosting my latest Chichester Water Conference. This online event brings together leaders from Southern Water and Ofwat to answer your questions about sewage discharges in our area.

Other experts from Chichester Harbour Conservancy, the Environment Agency and Natural England, will also join us to give a broader view about the impact of water pollution. 

My priority as your MP has been to hold water companies to account for their unacceptable dumping of sewage in our waterways and put a stop to this in the long term.

This starts with transparency. The Government has worked to improve sewage monitoring so that we all understand the scale of the problem and what is required to fix it. Since 2010 the proportion of outflows monitored has gone from just 7% to 100% by the end of 2023.

I have also campaigned for tough environmental standards, increased local investment, and harsher financial penalties for those who pollute our waterways.

We have made good progress, but there is still more work to be done. That is why Friday will also mark the launch of Chichester’s Plan for Water.

The plan gets to the heart of the issue of sewage in Chichester, laying out the causes of out outflows as well as the progress I, and other local partners, have made to date in dealing with this issue. 

Importantly the plan gives new details of crucial investments promised by Southern Water in their latest business plan, fulfilling a promise I made to the people of Chichester to secure funding for our water infrastructure for the future.

To attend Friday’s conference and be the first to hear about Chichester’s Plan for Water visit my website (www.gilliankeegan.com) and click on the tab marked ‘Chichester Water Conference’. 

This week also marks English Tourism Week. The visitor economy is of huge importance to our area, so I am pleased to be hosting a roundtable this week alongside The Great Sussex Way which will look at recent successes for tourism in Chichester, but also the challenges we face post-pandemic.

There is good news for the sector, with figures from the VisitEngland showing that visitor spend will exceed pre-pandemic levels for the first time this year. This is a testament to the resilience of our local economy and the support that was put in place by the Government during the pandemic for small businesses.