Court approves challenge against Defra

The High Court has granted permission for a challenge against the government’s plan for reducing storm overflow discharges by environmental groups who want to see shorter deadlines for action.

The plan by the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) published last year, set water companies staggered goals to reduce the number of discharges from combined sewer overflows (CSOs) by 2050.

The challenge, which is supported by the Good Law Project, wants better protections for coastal waters across the country to be included in the plan as well as swifter action by water companies to reduce the risk of harm from discharges.

Good Law Project’s director Jo Maugham said: “This could be the most consequential environmental law case in recent history. We contend – and the High Court now agrees the point is arguable – that the English common law contains a principle that the natural environment must be protected, must be held in trust, for future generations.”

The Marine Conservation Society, Surfers Against Sewage and Richard Haward’s Oysters will bring the case for Defra secretary of state Therese Coffey to answer.

“The writing is on the wall for water companies,” said Hugo Tagholm, of Surfers Against Sewage. “Their pollution that was for so long hidden in our rivers and streams now flows in full view of the public. A sign of decades of neglect and complacency.”

Co-claimant Sandy Luk, chief executive of Marine Conservation Society, described the High Court approval as “an important milestone in achieving our vision for a cleaner, better protected and healthier ocean. She said: “Raw sewage will continue polluting our seas until action is taken.”

No date has yet been set for the hearing on the reduction plan, which has faced criticism for lacking ambition. This is not the first legal challenge related to CSOs. Last month Wild Justice had a case rejected by the Court of Appeals that claimed Ofwat had failed in a a regulatory obligation related to discharges.