Local Cosmos

At any one time, pollution warnings are in place for more than 100 British beaches, due entirely to the practice of untreated sewage being discharged directly into the sea. These warnings appear on the Safer Seas and Rivers Service, run by the charity Surfers Against Sewage (SAS), and are based on data taken from water-providing firms across the country. Every time a storm hits the UK, the SAS app lights up a hoard of ‘danger zone’ red areas.

As has been highly publicised in recent revelations by the UK press, Southern Water, the Thanet water provider, is one of many British providers currently discharging untreated sewage into bathing sites. Southern Water alone discharged sewage into 30 local sites during September 2022.

Speaking on the issue, Green Party MP Caroline Lucas highlights - "We have a so-called plan that allows water companies to continue polluting until 2035 in areas, with significant importance to human and ecological health, and until 2050 elsewhere. That's sanctioning almost 30 years more of pollution," 

To draw as much attention to the scandal as possible, this mural is positioned directly leading out towards the ocean off Cliftonville, aiming to remind those who see it of the through-flow of raw sewage at the hands of Southern water into the ocean. 

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