Council will not seek legal action over beach and river pollution

Lewis Smith, Local Democracy Reporter

The leader of a county council has said the local authority won’t pursue legal action with Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water over issues with pollution at local beaches and rivers.

The discussion came at a full meeting of Bridgend County Borough Council held in September 2025 where councillor Ian Williams asked what pressure the council was putting on Shared Regulatory Services, Natural Resources Wales, and the Welsh Government to trace the source of pollution which was affecting the River Ogmore and beaches around Porthcawl.

He followed up by asking the leader of Bridgend Council, Cllr John Spanswick, if he would instruct legal officers to work with these organisations to investigate the possibility of legal proceedings against Dwr Cymru Welsh Water with respect to pollution emanating from their facilities.

This was so they could be assured that measures would be taken to “prevent current and future pollution”.

Infrastructure

Cllr Williams of Oldcastle also noted that with around 3,000 new dwellings planned for the south of Bridgend county in the coming years the authority should make sure Dŵr Cymru Welsh Water provided sufficient infrastructure to protect the environment before any planning consent was granted.

Addressing the chamber he said: “I believe it is essential for this administration to fulfil its duty of care to residents and ensure that measures are in place to protect the environment.”

In response to the question Cllr Spanswick of Brackla West Central said he had “no intention” of instructing the monitoring officers to do any such thing.

He did however add that he would be making sure he was doing what he could as an individual.

Rubbish 

Speaking at the meeting Cllr Spanswick highlighted his work as a trustee with local environmental charity, A Peace for Nature, who were said to be actively engaging to bring Welsh Water to account by sending challenging letters, evidence, and data that proved how they neglected rivers.

He also spoke of the work a number of voluntary groups in the area had done which included removing thousands of tyres and rubbish from local beaches and the River Ogmore.

Cllr Spanswick said: “We are not the guardians of Welsh Water – that’s Natural Resources Wales.

“They have been challenged too and I challenge them myself. We meet with them regularly. ”

The questions came after the quality of bathing water in the neighbouring Ogmore-by-Sea was classed as being poor in both 2023 and 2024 with a number of incidents of pollution reported upstream in the River Ogmore.