Budleigh Sewage action

In 2024, SWW pumped a mix of untreated sewage and brook water off Otter head, around 10,000 times. Each time, an average of up to 18,000 litres was dumped. This is NOT normal!

As a quick glance through the posts on this web site make clear, over the last 14 months, we have been pushing for this to be resolved. These actions have included many meetings and email exchanges with local councillors, our MPs, and with SWW themselves.

Since July 2024, SWW have known exactly what the problem is, and what sewer-pipe lining is required. All we want now is a full, published plan to fix Budleigh’s broken sewage system.

The last straw was the data for January 2025: 1,226 pumped discharges last month alone – and no sign of a full plan. You can see all of the discharge data – as published by South West Water themselves, here.

Daily sewage warnings and the associated email notifications cannot continue through Summer 2025.

We’ve resisted promoting the legal action up until now. We preferred to work with the stakeholders to resolve the situation.

But now it seems the only way to force SWW to fix this issue is by Budleigh folk joining the Leigh Day class action against SWW. We urge you to check the details, and sign up today.

Read all about the legal action, and add your name here.

For those in any doubt if this is the correct plan, here’s a recap of three critical issues which South West Water continue to inflict on Budleigh.

One regular question is whether any individual could be hit with any costs. See the attached response to this question, which should help with this concern.

It’s time we got our safe beach back!