December Newsletter: What's been happening lately?
- saveourswale
- Jan 12
- 4 min read
March for Clean Water
SOS members attended the March for Clean Water in London on 3rd November. Hilary Plews, SOS Campaign Member, had this to say about the experience:
'Very heartening to be among so many committed water campaigners. Hope those now in power watching the coverage of the march recognise the strength of feeling up and down the country. People want this mess sorted. It's the Government's job to sort it. No dithering, no tinkering. Just sort it or massively haemorrhage good will and trust that you can change anything.'
Sunday 24th November
SOS held a seminar attended by 30 participants on Sunday 24th. The purpose was to celebrate the group's achievements over the past year, to thank all volunteers and to invite discussion on the direction of the group in the coming year.
Deborah Meara and Keith Thomas both presented and there was light entertainment provided by Rantin' Richie. After the break the group got together to discuss the outlined objectives and to offer their views on what should be a priority for 2025. The seminar input will be summarised and shared in our next newsletter.
Take Action!
Designated Bathing Water Status: DEFRA Consultation deadline 23rd December 2025
The Government has launched a consultation to reform Bathing Water Regulations. The old legislation is not fit for purpose and radical change is needed.
There are five main areas in the consultation. Please see our views on these in italics below.
Expanding the definition of 'bathers' to include all water users. Anyone using the water can potentially ingest the water. All are at risk if the water is polluted. There is no difference between someone who swims, paddles or uses a kayak: all water users should be counted.
Removing fixed bathing season dates. If people use the waterway recreationally all year then designation should reflect this.
Introducing multiple monitoring points to better classify water quality. Monitoring points must reflect the points where the water users access the river and take into account the CSO's and any other sources of pollution along the designated stretch.
Removing automatic de-designation for sites that get 'poor' for 5 years. There should NOT be automatic de-designation after 5 years of receiving a 'poor' water quality standard. Ilkley have shown that designation and access to the OFWAT Accelerator programme means infrastructure can be secured to achieve safe water. This can take outside of the 5 years. Extending this, however, potentially means reduced motivation and urgency to clean up the water and an extended risk to people and wildlife.
Deciding if it is feasible to improve a site's water quality to at least 'sufficient', and using that as a criterion for final designation. We feel this is a get out clause: all waterways should be at least sufficient and the starting point should be to achieve that and continue to improve.
Please complete the online survey before December 23rd by clicking the button below.
Surfers Against Sewage petition
We've had the message below from Surfers Against Sewage: please consider signing their petition:
"We urgently need your help.
Because of your campaigning, the government is taking the first legal steps to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas, by introducing the Water (Special Measures) Bill. Thank you.
But there's a huge risk that this new law, which is passing through parliament right now, will leave billpayers and taxpayers on the hook for paying off water company debts and shareholders. 😲🤬
We're working non-stop behind the scenes to persuade Keir Starmer to amend this fundamentally flawed bill, but we need to show that the public demand this change too.
For all us water-lovers, this cause really is a three-line whip. Will you sign this urgent petition today?
Profiting from pollution must never be permitted, let alone be enshrined in law.
And that's why we are also calling for government to use this Bill to abolish Ofwat's farcical duty to deliver profits for water company shareholders (yes, Deborah, that's really what they are legally obliged to do), and replace it with a legal duty to protect the environment and public health.
This is an urgent call. We really need your support. Please take 30 seconds to sign the petition, and help us outlaw profiting from pollution
For the full lowdown on what we're calling for, and why, head to the petition page now, and scroll down to the FAQs section.
Thanks for your support ✊🌊
For the ocean,
Team SAS"
How to buy water-friendly products
Choosing less polluting and more sustainable products, and then disposing of them safely, can help keep our seas and rivers clean. From plastics to chemicals and pharmaceuticals, this article from Which? magazine will help you choose well.
Shout Out To:
SOS would like to thank Richmond Town Council for their public support of our campaign. The resolution, proposed by Councillor World and seconded by Councillor Harris was discussed at the September meeting and recorded as follows in the council minutes:
RESOLVED: to express support for both self-designation of bathing water status and the DEFRA application (once opened) for the River Swale in Richmond.
Also a huge thank you to Ian Woods who has donated £150 to SOS from his Mayor's Charity Fund 2023/2024. SOS is completely independent of any funding from water companies, the regulators etc, donations such as this really help us achieve the work we do.
Dates for the Diary
19th January: RICAP are holding an Eco Fair from 09.30am-12.30pm at Richmond School. The event will focus on local environmental issues and SOS are delighted to have a stall there. Come along and say hello!
The next Water Quality Monitoring Session is Sunday 26th Jan. More detail will follow in a separate email to all WQM volunteers.
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