Agenda item

Speakers:

       i.         Miles Cameron (Manager of Strategic Partnerships)

     ii.         Adam Ashman (Head of Strategic Partnerships & Sustainability)

The committee received a presentation from Miles Cameron, Manager of Strategic Partnerships, and Adam Ashman, Head of Strategic Partnerships & Sustainability, Yorkshire Water. Before the presentation, Messrs Cameron and Ashman provided replies to three public questions (see Minute 196 above).

Miles Cameron and Adam Ashman addressed the committee on behalf of Yorkshire Water, acknowledging longstanding concerns about bathing water quality in Scarborough and setting their presentation in the context of historic and recent investment, partnership working and the complexity of multiple pollution sources. They outlined Yorkshire Water’s infrastructure history in Scarborough, noting the transformation since the Victorian short sea outfalls, major investment between 2010 and 2015 including storage tunnels, treatment upgrades and UV disinfection, and more recent schemes at Wheatcroft and Whitby Road Bridge which had significantly reduced storm overflow frequency and duration. They reported strong asset performance in 2025, with full effluent compliance, improved UV disinfection effectiveness, and year‑on‑year reductions in spill events, while accepting that assets alone could not resolve all water quality pressures, particularly those linked to Scalby Beck and wider catchment inputs. They described the creation of a dedicated Bathing Waters team to provide specialist focus, greater transparency, proactive maintenance and closer collaboration with partners, including work on misconnections, investigations and rapid operational response.

Looking ahead, they highlighted a major AMP8 investment programme of around £120–150 million up to 2030 to further reduce CSO spills through a blended approach, alongside expanded education and community engagement, aerial mapping to identify drainage risks, a large‑scale water‑butt programme, and continued partnership work with the council and the Environment Agency. They also outlined innovation trials, including seaweed‑based “blue solutions” to absorb nutrients, new monitoring technologies aimed at near real‑time water quality information for the public, and strengthened governance through a reinvigorated Bathing Water Partnership with independent leadership and wider stakeholder representation, emphasising that rebuilding trust would depend on openness, sustained investment and coordinated action over time.

Members’ discussion

Following the presentation by Miles Cameron and Adam Ashman, councillors focused on issues of trust, accountability and delivery timescales, welcoming the scale of proposed investment but expressing frustration that South Bay remained classified as poor and concern that promised improvements had not yet translated into visible results. Members questioned how the new stakeholder group would be constituted to ensure genuine representation of residents and water users, sought clarity on the extent of Victorian and combined sewer infrastructure, and explored how future solutions might prioritise surface water separation, sustainable urban drainage and misconnection remediation rather than further reliance on combined systems. Significant concern was raised about the impact of continued housing growth on already constrained infrastructure, the status of Yorkshire Water as a non‑statutory consultee in planning, and whether capacity issues were being adequately addressed.

Councillors pressed Yorkshire Water on why earlier investment programmes had fallen short of expectations, how the new £120–150m AMP8 programme would differ, and whether improvements could realistically be accelerated ahead of the 2030 deadline, stressing that continued delays posed reputational, environmental and public health risks for the town. There was strong interest in extending monitoring beyond the bathing season, improving transparency of data, supporting citizen‑science initiatives to rebuild confidence, and exploring longer‑term solutions such as grey‑water recycling alongside simpler measures like water butts. Members also highlighted ongoing concerns around flash flooding, operational controls such as valves and overflows, agricultural and non‑Yorkshire Water sources of pollution, and the need for clearer explanations of responsibilities between agencies. The discussion concluded with requests for continued engagement with the Area Committee, involvement of members in stakeholder nominations, closer alignment with local plan policy on drainage and water management, and a shared expectation that Yorkshire Water work with partners to deliver faster, demonstrable improvements while maintaining open communication and scrutiny.

In response to requests made by the committee, Messrs Cameron and Ashman agreed:

       i.         To provide details of the scheme for giving sewage sludge to farms

     ii.         To provide data on the number of spills from Scarborough’s five CSOs

    iii.         To provide details of the operation of the sluice valves at Aquarium Top and Peasholm Park in relation to pollution prevention

    iv.         To provide further details of the process for the adoption of wastewater assets such as sewer pipes in new housing developments, with particular reference to West Garth, Cayton, the sewer assets of which had not yet been adopted.