Cole-Hamilton urges action as Great British Beach Clean gets underway

Speaking as the Great British Beach Clean gets underway, Scottish Liberal Democrat leader Alex Cole-Hamilton MSP has today urged the Scottish Government to do everything in its power to clean up Scotland’s sewage problem and to tackle plastics pollution on beaches across the country.  

Scottish Liberal Democrats are calling on the Scottish Government to:   

• Ban sewage dumping on Scotland’s beaches and speed up protection of bathing waters.  
• Record and publish every sewage dump, introduce the first legally-binding targets for reducing dumps and upgrade Scotland’s Victorian sewage network.  
• Work to eliminate plastics pollution from our seas and beaches by introducing legislation which protects them through preventative measures.  
• Encourage people to embrace the circular economy by cutting waste and single-use plastics.  

Mr Cole-Hamilton said:  

“The Great British Beach Clean is a fantastic opportunity to make a positive impact on the beaches and seas that we, in Scotland, are incredibly lucky to have. Unfortunately, many of these environmental treasures are being spoilt by sewage dumps and plastics pollution.  

“One of the worst offenders for sewage dumping is Scotland’s government-owned water company, which dumped sewage into our rivers almost 50,000 times over three years. If that was anyone else, we would expect there to be heftier consequences.  

“This SNP/Green administration need to stop excusing the number of sewage dumps and take action to tackle some of the most pressing problems affecting our marine environment.  

“Scottish Liberal Democrats want to see the water regulator driving up standards and for the government to introduce legislation that will address plastics pollution on our beaches. More broadly, the Scottish Government should be doing all it can to encourage people to embrace the circular economy and to cut waste and single-use plastics.”