Each month we feature a selection of your letters
Each month we feature a selection of your letters
We ’ re still looking for a new prize for a Star Letter , so please bear with us for a while longer . It ’ s a difficult time for the diving industry , so sponsorships are a tricky proposition at the moment .
ChatSend your letters to simon @ scubamagazine . co . uk
Killing a ghost pot
Barriers to a sewage solution
I CAN ’ T SAY I ENJOYED THE ARTICLE about sewage in the September edition of SCUBA [ in Protect our Seas , article by Kerry MacKay ], but it was a good article . Sewage is not only something which we should be well aware of when diving , but it is very much in the news at the moment . It ’ s a depressing subject , but there is something we , as citizens , can do in the hope we make a difference .
Recently I have had to learn far more about the planning system than I ever wanted to know . It will probably surprise you , as it did me , that the planners have no power over waste water . Yes , they have to follow building regs , but not where the drains go . They have no power to insist that a sewage works is constructed to fulfil the capacity before a development is completed and houses are sold . They also have no power to insist that sewage is separated from the water which runs off our roofs . If you object to a development on these grounds then it has to be dismissed as ‘ not a planning issue ’!
One of the major problems seems to be that in times of high rainfall , the sewage works cannot handle the amount of water . If the rainwater were to be handled by different pipes and not flow through the
MOST WRECKS WE DIVE OFF THE Yorkshire and Lincolnshire coast have lobster pots trapped on them . Fishermen try and get their pots as close to wrecks as possible , because they are aware of the large number of crabs and lobsters that live on structures . The downside is that some pots get stuck and are discarded by fishermen . Such untended pots continue to trap shellfish for years and years .
On Saturday 23 September , Grimsby and Cleethorpes BSAC No 37 went out to dive one of our well known wreck sites . On reaching the bottom we came across a large amount of discarded lobster pots . They were in poor condition and we have been told they cannot be recycled . We first cut off the plastic hooks that hold the pots closed and proceeded to release the lobsters and crabs . Many of them were already dead , but over 50 were released , including pregnant females . I placed over 20 hooks in my bag during the dive . PETER RODGER , Grimsby and Cleethorpes BSAC
sewage works , then it could be much more easily controlled . If the pipes were put in when the houses ( or other developments ) were being built then it would cost less overall and save much disruption at a later date .
We have a general election on the horizon , and all the major parties are telling us that they will provide more housing . If those developments were to separate sewage from storm water while being built , it would make a good start towards solving ( or at least not making worse ) the problem .
I suggest that we all write to our MPs ( and the candidates standing against them when the time comes ) and ask that the National Planning Policy Framework be amended to give the planners power over the discharge pipes ( both sewage and surface water ) and to be able to insist on upgraded sewage works near developments .
If enough of us ask for this , then we stand a chance of getting some action . After all , if there ’ s a vote in it then a politician is currently interested . SHEILAH OPENSHAW
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