Strengthen enforcement, Wye campaigners urge EA's Alan Lovell

Following a meeting at Queenswood country park with EA chair Alan Lovell and colleagues, Friends of the River Wye (FRW) said it wanted the regular water pollution measurements taken by its “citizen scientists” to form the basis for enforcement action against polluters, which only the EA can take.

Currently the group’s attempts to alert the EA to pollution incidents are “liable to go unattended”, it said.

RELATED NEWS:

• Efforts to fix river Wye too focused on phosphate, study shows
• NFU's Herefordshire chair calls for greater food security
• Huge number join legal move over river Wye pollution

Mr Lovell suggested giving trusted individuals a hotline to circumvent this. But according to FRW, he admitted his organisation lacks adequate funding and resources for enforcement work.

And while the new government plans to give the EA greater powers to tackle pollution from water companies, “we would like similar tools to deal with agricultural pollution too”, FRW said.

The EA's Alan Lovell (in glasses) hears campaigners' concerns at lack of action against river polluters (Image: Herefordshire Wildlife Trust) “At the moment those farmers taking the time, trouble and expense to comply with environmental regulations can be undercut by less scrupulous actors who are unlikely to suffer any penalty for polluting the environment,” they said.

“This cannot continue.”

What are your thoughts?

You can send a letter to the editor to have your say by clicking here.

Letters should not exceed 250 words and local issues take precedence.

Mr Lovell said afterwards he welcomed the government’s Water (Special Measures) Bill, introduced to Parliament this month, which “will give us, as regulator, more power to protect our precious water quality and resources, hold water companies to account and ensure the polluter pays”.

Set up by Herefordshire Wildlife Trust, the meeting was also attended by Friends of the River Wye, CPRE Herefordshire, Wye Salmon Association and Save the Wye.

OTHER NEWS:

• How Herefordshire's MPs voted on cut to winter fuel payments
• New bid to turn Herefordshire's Lamb Inn into a house
• How much Herefordshire made from shooting of Hamnet movie

Meanwhile a cross-party group has been created to advance the cause of a cleaner Wye in Parliament.

Led by Labour peer Lord (David) Lipsey, who lives near Talgarth near the Herefordshire border, it includes both Conservative MP for Hereford and South Herefordshire Jesse Norman and newly elected Green MP for North Herefordshire Ellie Chowns.

It is being supported by law firm Leigh Day, currently leading a legal claim on behalf of Wye catchment area residents to tackle pollution in the river arising from farm run-off.