Save our streams, insist Saddleworth Labour

Hannah Roberts, Labour campaigner in Delph and Denshaw

Saddleworth Labour party is campaigning to clean up Saddleworth’s waterways.

Data from the Rivers Trust shows that in 2022 raw sewage was discharged from 17 locations in 537 separate spills for a total of 4,703 hours across Oldham East and Saddleworth.

In Saddleworth, discharges were reported along the River Tame at Clifton Holme, Delph New Road/Station Approach, Dobcross New Road, Greenfield and Woodbrook Road.

Saddleworth Labour is calling for mandatory monitoring of sewage outlets and automatic fines for sewage discharges, with a penalty for outlets that do not have monitoring in place, ending costly and inefficient prosecutions.

Dominic Wall, Labour campaigner in Greenfield and Uppermill, said: "A Labour Government will set ambitious targets to cut sewage outflows and clean up our rivers, streams, and seas once and for all.

"It is an absolute disgrace that raw sewage is being put into the River Tame across Saddleworth and United Utilities needs to clean up its act, paying for improvement out of profits not our bills."

Hannah Roberts, Labour campaigner in Delph and Denshaw, added: "The Environment Agency has found that United Utilities was the most polluting water company in England last year.

"United Utilities announced last week that it will pay a dividend of £300m to its shareholders.

"That money could and should be used to clean up Saddleworth’s streams."

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