The Environment Agency has opened a formal consultation on South West Water’s application to vary its environmental permits for the Exmouth long sea outfall. According to the agency’s notice, the company is seeking permanent authorisation to use the new outfall, which is located about 300 metres south of Straight Point. If approved, the outfall would discharge treated wastewater. During periods of heavy rainfall, it could also discharge settled storm sewage, which places the permit decision within a wider discussion about coastal water quality and wet-weather wastewater management.
The application follows a period of conditional temporary operation. The Environment Agency states that temporary permission was granted because use of the new outfall reduces the risk of pollution affecting Exmouth Beach bathing water and the Exe Estuary. That temporary arrangement does not settle the longer-term position. South West Water must now secure permit variations if the outfall is to be used on a permanent basis, and the regulator is inviting public representations before it reaches a decision.
In practical terms, a permit variation changes the legal conditions attached to an existing environmental permit. For a wastewater operator, that can cover the discharge point, the types of discharge allowed, and the evidence required to show that the activity remains within environmental standards. The Environment Agency’s notice says South West Water must demonstrate that the proposal complies with policy and protects people, wildlife and designated sites. This means the decision will turn not only on the infrastructure itself, but on whether the full operating case meets the standards expected in environmental permitting.
The notice identifies several protected interests that must be considered as part of that assessment. These include shellfish waters, bathing waters and conservation areas, all of which carry particular regulatory weight when discharge activity is being reviewed. For Exmouth and the wider Exe Estuary, the consultation is therefore about more than a single technical change. It is examining whether permanent use of the outfall can be allowed without unacceptable effects on public health, local habitats and protected coastal designations.
The consultation is open through the Environment Agency’s consultation website and by email to PSCpublicresponse@environment-agency.gov.uk. The published deadline for responses is 11.59pm on Tuesday 22 September 2026. The agency also says that anyone who needs advice on making a comment, or who is unable to comment by email, can telephone 03708 506 506. That procedural detail matters because public responses form part of the record considered by the regulator.
The notice further explains that comments received will normally be placed on the public register. This would include the respondent’s name, but not personal contact details, and contributors are asked to say if they do not want their response to be made public. What follows is a standard but significant permitting process. South West Water must satisfy the Environment Agency that permanent use of the outfall meets the required environmental standards, and the consultation gives residents and stakeholders a defined route to comment before any permit variation is determined.