Cornwall Council to vote on Dowr Glan motion against South West Water

If you have walked past a beach warning sign this summer, or opened a water bill and blinked twice, the meeting at Lys Kernow on Tuesday 21 July may be the one to watch. A cross-party group of councillors will ask Cornwall Council to formally declare no confidence in South West Water and to petition the government to take the company’s water and sewage operation into public hands.

The vote follows more than a year of groundwork in town and parish council chambers across Cornwall, and it lands the day after Andy Burnham takes office as prime minister.

What councillors are being asked to back

The motion is brought by Dean Evans, the Green Party’s Cornwall Councillor for Penryn, alongside Cllr Loveday Jenkin of Mebyon Kernow, who represents Crowan and Wendron. It sits at the centre of a campaign called Dowr Glan, Cornish for “clean water”, which has been running since April.

Campaigners say support crosses party lines, with Greens, Mebyon Kernow, Liberal Democrats, Labour, Independents and Conservatives all expected to take part.

Dean Evans said: “We know that there will be strong cross-party support for our motion on Tuesday. So many people in Cornwall have first-hand experience of sewage spills, not to mention steep rises in their water bills year after year. Bringing water back into public ownership is a policy that has broad support right across the political spectrum.

“As councillors, we are giving voice to the people in our communities, and the strength of their feeling on this could not be clearer.”

The letter behind the motion

The vote comes after campaigners hand a letter to Leigh Frost, Leader of Cornwall Council. The same letter is going to the Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs, the Chief Executive of water regulator Ofwat, and all six of Cornwall’s MPs.

It is written in the language of the Water (Special Measures) Act and Ofwat’s licence conditions, and it asks the government to place South West Water into Special Administration, stripping the current management of its mandate and transferring water and sewage assets to a publicly owned organisation run as a public service.

The letter sets out three grounds: failure of infrastructure and public health, financial mismanagement, and inadequate governance. It states that the company has lost its social licence to operate, and that fines and enforcement cases have become a cost of doing business rather than a deterrent.

More than 50 town and parish councils have already signed

The campaign says more than 50 of Cornwall’s town and parish councils, representing well over half of the population, have passed the motion. The list on the campaign website runs to 55 councils and counting, starting with Crowan on 9 April and Penryn on 13 April.

Every major town is on it. Truro, Penzance, Falmouth, Newquay, St Ives, Camborne, Redruth, Hayle, Bodmin, Saint Austell, Launceston, Helston, Padstow and Bude-Stratton have all voted it through, along with dozens of smaller parishes. Several more, including Saltash, Looe, Illogan, Menheniot, Lanhydrock, St Columb Major and St Levan, have the motion listed for a vote this month.

Campaign organiser Mael Garrec, a Mebyon Kernow town councillor in Penryn and the town’s Deputy Mayor, said: “Cornwall has suffered from years of underinvestment in water and sewage infrastructure, with money from our water bills that should have been spent on this being creamed off as shareholder profit and fat-cat salaries and bonuses. The result is a never-ending slew of sewage spills that have impacted communities all across Cornwall.

“The aim of this campaign is very simple: to show that the people of Cornwall have had enough of South West Water and want to see this monopoly utility back in public hands and managed for the common good, for people and environment, not private profit.”

The figures the campaign is pointing to

Dowr Glan has pulled together a facts and figures page that forms much of the case councillors will hear.

It cites a March 2026 investigation by Surfers Against Sewage with The Sunday Times into illegal “dry spills”, releases of sewage when there has been little or no rain and therefore nothing to dilute the waste. Portreath recorded 661 hours of dry spills in 2025 despite an official “Excellent” bathing water rating. Pentewan, also rated Excellent, recorded 391 hours. The River Carnon, which runs through Bissoe and Devoran into the Fal Estuary, saw close to 1,000 hours of dry-day spills from three South West Water facilities.

Also in March, South West Water admitted 18 pollution offences across Devon and Cornwall. Investigators found 336 illegal spills over seven years at the company’s Bodmin sewage works, with sewage reaching the River Camel, a protected area known for Atlantic salmon, otters and bullhead. Untreated sewage was released 231 times between 2016 and 2021 at Harlyn beach. Parent company Pennon Group pleaded guilty to supplying water unfit for human consumption after the 2024 cryptosporidium outbreak in Brixham, which left more than 140 people ill and four in hospital.

On bills, the campaign notes charges rose by around 30% in 2025, taking the average annual household bill from £520 to £686. Pennon reported profit before tax of £65.9 million for the first half of 2025/26 on revenues up 25% to £658.1 million, while net debt grew to £4.3 billion.

Cllr Loveday Jenkin said: “South West Water’s litany of failure has been obvious for years, and the company has been convicted of multiple criminal offences over both contaminated drinking water and illegal sewage discharges.

“Cornwall has more than enough of the public relations spin with which they seek to sweeten the smell of raw sewage. Quite simply, South West Water has lost its social licence to operate.

“Andy Burnham has promised to devolve power to regional level, and to bring public services back under public control. On Tuesday, the people of Cornwall will deliver a very clear message to Mr Burnham and his government: we expect these fine words to be backed up with real action, starting with the failed privatised water industry.”

What happens on Tuesday 21 July

The day is built around the council meeting at New County Hall, Lys Kernow, in Truro.

08:00 Rally outside, with councillors, community leaders, residents and environmental groups speaking about the impact of the sewage crisis on beaches, rivers and wildlife.

09:00 The handover of the collective letter of no confidence to the Leader of Cornwall Council. MPs have been invited.

10:30 to 13:00 The vote in the chamber.

13:00 Press conference outside Lys Kernow, with councillors and campaigners available once the result is known.

Councillors and residents who want to get involved can contact the campaign at [email protected].

📷Portreath, rated 'Excellent' for bathing water quality, recorded 661 hours of illegal dry spills in 2025 according to Surfers Against Sewage.