A 17-year-old environmental campaigner from Newton Abbot will meet local MP Martin Wrigley today (Friday) as part of a national mass lobby against water pollution.

Lucas Brendon will urge Mr Wrigley to press for tougher action against water companies in the government’s Clean Water Bill.

He’s representing Surfers Against Sewage, who say the bill as it currently stands will protect the privatised water industry. They want the companies to have a legal duty to protect public health, enforced by strict regulation and tough penalties for pollution.

All over the country MPs will be hosting similar face-to-face meetings with constituents in advance of the Bill passing through Parliament.

Lucas, who will meet Mr Wrigley in his Newton Abbot constituency office, said he and his friends are literally sick of risking their health when they go swimming or surfing in local waters.

He said: “It’s outrageous that, in one of the wealthiest countries in the world, our rivers and seas are still being used as sewers.

“We should be allowed to swim at Teignmouth, paddle in the River Teign and surf at Dawlish without worrying about sewage, our health or who is being allowed to get away with it.

“I know that local people are getting sick from the pollution in our waters and I can back that up with anecdotal evidence from my friends.

“Luckily I haven’t been sick myself, but I’m very, very wary.”

Lucas is a member of Surfers Against Sewage’s youth advisory panel, and is also the founder of Roots Media, a youth organisation aiming to inspire and empower young people to be the sustainable leaders of the future.

He’ll present Mr Wrigley with a letter from other young people in the Newton Abbot constituency, outlining the effect of sewage pollution on their lives and what they want to see done about it.

He said the mass national lobby is a chance for people to make their feelings known to their parliamentary representatives: “They work for us, not the water companies, but they’ve got to hear our voices.

“Unfortunately the water companies have lobbying power, they’re wealthier than any one of us, so we need to come together as constituents and as a community.

“We can see sewage pollution so clearly in our local spaces, in places that we love, and I think that really hits home and pulls on the heartstrings.”

The measures in the existing Clean Water Bill include the creation of a new ‘super-regulator’ to replace the existing functions of Ofwat, the Drinking Water Inspectorate, the Environment Agency and Natural England. There are also measures to ensure that new housing developments don’t over-burden the existing sewage systems.

But critics, including Surfers Against Sewage, say the interests of the public can’t be served by a privatised industry that prioritises profit, executive pay and shareholder dividends. They want the Clean Water Bill to set out a roadmap for restructuring the water companies and creating a system that puts people and the environment first.

For more information on the Clean the Bill lobbying campaign, visit www.cleanthebill.org