Winchester is fortunate to have some of the most beautiful chalk streams in the world – with the Rivers Itchen, Meon, Test and Hamble on a doorsteps. But for too long they have been treated like a dumping ground for raw sewage. 

Like many in our community, Danny Chambers took it personally. The River Itchen is one of his favourite places to run, and since being elected in 2024 he has made protecting our chalk streams a top priority.

Across Winchester and the wider catchment, sewage is still being discharged into the River Itchen, the River Meon and the River Hamble for hundreds of hours every year. In the first two months of 2026 alone, sewage flowed into these local rivers for nearly 2,000 hours combined.

Meanwhile, Southern Water bosses continue to give themselves huge pay rises.

The Conservatives did  nothing to stop water companies from dumping sewage into our rivers. Winchester and the Meon Valley's previous MP consistently voted AGAINST tougher action to stop sewage dumps.

Danny and the Liberal Democrats are calling for an end to sewage dumping. Read our plan to stop the sewage below.

• Water executives should be banned from paying themselves bonuses until sewage dumping stops.
• Ofwat should be abolished and replaced with a new regulator with teeth.
• Water companies should be reformed as ‘public benefit companies’. They would have to consider economic and environmental policy objectives when running the company, not just give a return for their shareholders.
• Water companies should have representatives of local environmental groups on their boards.
• A sewage tax should be introduced on the water company profits to urgently fund the clean up of the most polluted lakes, rivers and coastlines.