Falmouth Town Council has called on MP Cherilyn Mackrory to reconsider her decision to vote against an amendment to the Environment Bill which aimed to stop raw sewage from being discharged into the sea.

There has been criticism from environmentalists after a House of Commons vote last week which rejected the amendment to the bill.

This amendment would have prevented water companies from discharging raw sewage into waterways, rivers and the sea and placed responsibility on them and the Secretary of State to stop the practice.

Five of Cornwall’s six Conservative MPs voted to block the amendment with just St Ives MP Derek Thomas voting against the Government in support.

MPs, including Ms Mackrory, have explained the reasoning for their voting here: All but one Cornish MP votes to NOT require water firms to reduce sewage discharge

On Monday night Falmouth Town Council voted unanimously in favour of writing to Cherilyn Mackrory, MP for Truro and Falmouth, to express their concern and calling on her to “look again” at her decision.

The letter states: “As you are aware, we have both rivers and sea surrounding our town and rely on these for much of our industry. As a tourist destination unclean water will dramatically affect our visitor numbers and therefore our economy.

“We stand to lose our Blue Flag status – which we work so very hard on every year and brings a vital accolade to Falmouth’s beaches.

“Much of our residents’ leisure activity also relies on our blue spaces – sea swimmers gather in their hundreds in Falmouth and the seafront and river are often scattered with kayaks, paddleboards and small boats. It is also a matter of public health, when the NHS is already struggling.

“We as a town take matters of the environment very seriously and have been working with community partners for a number of years, to ensure our town is as protected and cared for as it can possibly be.

“You can imagine our horror to find that our own MP then voted to allow water companies to continue to regularly pump untreated sewage into our waters.

“We as a community request that you look again at this decision. As an environmentalist yourself it is challenging to understand why you would not do everything in your power to protect our waters. We understand the concerns relating to cost on the taxpayer, but feel that if we don’t start to take action now then the cost will only escalate further.

“Our residents are shocked and upset. We officially request it be noted that we as a town council strongly object to the decision made by central government about our waters.”

In a lengthy statement, Ms Mackrory said that as a "paid up member of Surfers Against Sewage" and vice chair of the Ocean Conservation Parliamentary Group she "shares the passion and drive of the people of Cornwall regarding the stopping of dumping sewage into our waterways."

She described the failed amendment as "poorly drafted" and would have resulted in an "astronomical bill" for the public, with initial estimates of between £150 billion and £600 billion.

"To put those figures in perspective, £150 billion is more than the entire schools, policing and defence budgets put together, and £600 billion is well above what has been spent combatting the Coronavirus pandemic," she said.

She added: "Unfortunately, and as usual, there are a minority who use social media to spread simplistic misrepresentations of my vote, without any real understanding of the Bill or the amendment, nor sadly wanting to.

"Many are quick off the mark to jump to conclusions without even asking me for my view on this issue."

And Ms Mackrory concluded: "I want to end on this note - to be crystal clear, my vote was not to dump more sewage into our waters.

"The amendment that came forward was not the right vehicle to effect the change we all want to see.

Read the full statement here.