I recently gave oral evidence at the Environmental Audit Committee formal meeting regarding National Highways and Environmental Sustainability. The remit of this Committee of MPs is to consider the extent to which the policies and programmes of government departments and non-departmental public bodies contribute to environmental protection and sustainable development, and to audit their performance against sustainable development and environmental protection targets.
I attended with Catherine Montcrieff from CIWEM and, together, we answered the questions of the Committee. It was a great opportunity to set out the problems and concerns about pollution from highway runoff in the UK, and it gave us the chance to share evidence that National Highways’ pollution control schemes are not being built in enough places and that they are being designed and delivered using poor guidance that leads to ineffective treatment schemes.
Hopefully the Committee will take our messages on board and recommend that National Highways’ guidance be improved and updated so that pollution control schemes are effective.
This was an excellent opportunity for Stormwater Shepherds UK to share knowledge and examples with MPs to try to influence the development of new Policy and practice across England. We are pleased that the ongoing work that we do has brought us to the attention of the MPs and that they are happy to listen to our evidence. This reassures us that Stormwater Shepherds UK is recognised as a credible and reliable advisor on stormwater pollution topics and we are pleased that our Supporters have help us to build this reputation.
If you are aware of highway runoff pollution near your home, write to your MP and alert them to the problem; perhaps they will be interested too, and they will read the recommendations of the Committee. The more MPs who are interested in this topic, the more likely we are to see a solution soon.
