Tag Archives: lisa smart

Lisa Smart has made The Guardian in a story about an issue we all love to hate – sewage: Sewage-soaked field stops creation of new woodland in Greater Manchester where you can view of photo of Lisa gamely inspecting the mess.

Lisa is a councillor on Stockport Council and our PPC for Hazel Grove. The article tells us:

Plans to plant a new woodland have been cancelled after local councillors discovered a field was so saturated with sewage the soil could be too toxic for the trees.

The woodland was to have been planted in a council-owned field located by Otterspool Road in Romiley, Greater Manchester. Officials hoped the woodland would improve the environment, provide green space and encourage wildlife habitats.

However, Stockport councillors have learned the land is unsuitable for tree planting because of sewage discharges leaching into the ground. They were told the resulting soil contamination would make it hard to plant the trees, so they had decided to cancel the woodland.

And the blame for this stink?

According to Environment Agency data, United Utilities discharged sewage at Otterspool Road 135 times last year, which amounted to 40 days of sewage flowing.

The water company was found to be the most polluting in the country last year. One of United Utilities’ pipes spilled sewage into the River Ellen, near the Lake District, for nearly 7,000 hours in 2022. Environment Agency data also showed that 10 of the country’s 20 pipes that spilled the most sewage in 2022 were owned by United Utilities, which provides water to the north-west and the Lake District.

This isn’t the first time Lisa has looked into sewage. She has been running a campaign on river pollution for some time, and tells us that “Lib Dem run Stockport Council has become the first council in the country to launch an official Sewage Inquiry”, which she is chairing.

The Manchester Evening News covered the campaign with this headline: “Toilet paper hanging from trees…and the smell”: Sewage inquiry launched after water firm pumped filth into river nearly 1,000 times last year.