I am delighted that Wallingford Beach has officially been designated as a bathing water site by the Government. This is something that residents have long been calling for and the Water Minister has rightly recognised the strong show of local support.

Bathing Water status means that the Environment Agency will regularly monitor the water quality at Wallingford Beach during the bathing season. This will help to ensure our rivers are safe and healthy and comes after decisive action by the Government to tackle sewage pollution that I have strongly supported - including legally binding targets to stop sewage dumping which I was proud to vote for; increasing the monitoring of sewage discharges in England to 100% (up from 7% in 2010); ensuring fines against water companies are unlimited and requiring Thames Water and other water companies to spend £56 billion to fix this problem. I will be meeting the CEO of Thames Water soon to demand further action.

Thank you to everyone who responded to the consultation.

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