Roger Symonds and Cherry Beath

Local Councillor Sarah Bevan (Peasedown) was invited to London this week to tell BBC Panorama’s Jeremy Vine all about the successful initiative by the Lib Dems to ban bottled water in B&NES Council offices and meetings.

An edition of Panorama devoted to the costs of bottled water coincided with Councillor Bevan’s motion to Council on banning bottled water (adopted in February). Now Councillor Bevan’s interview will feature in a ‘What happened next?’ edition of the programme.

The transmission is scheduled for Bank Holiday Monday, May 26th, and will also feature pioneering chef Aldo Zilli who joined Cllr Bevan and Jeremy Vine at a table in his ‘Zillifish’ restaurant in the heart of Soho, otherwise known as London’s media hub. Chef Zilli has banned bottled water from all his eating establishments, where celebrities and the general public alike enjoy jugs of chilled tap water as standard.

The Panorama team was deeply impressed with Bath Lib Dems initiative to end the practice of buying in bottled water when the standard of our tap water is second to none and they were keen to do this follow-up to their programme which aired the day before the motion passed was passed by Full Council.

It is impressive that a programme of this calibre was aware of the achievement by our Council and the Liberal Democrat Group. It all helps to raise awareness of the needless cost to the tax payer and the environmental impact of buying bottled water.

Coincidentally, I tabled a question to this week’s Council Cabinet meeting to chase up the implementation of the ban. I am glad to say that work has begun to implement this policy.

It is great that Bath and North East Somerset is at the front of the pack on this issue. This is good for the council and good for the Environment, and with the announcement of the proposal to install filters for drinking water supplies, I doubt anyone will even notice a difference!