My Pie Chart of Pollution Shame

 

Greetings!   We had a great turnout in Nether Wallop for my talk on the travails of our rivers at which I introduced my Pie Chart of Shame This visual is my effort at pinning, in a simple and readily understandable way, the blame squarely on those who are most responsible for the parlous state of our rivers, waterways and coastline, whilst damaging, possibly forever, the fish and creatures who live in them, the people who need to make their living from them and everyone who enjoys such precious assets gifted to us by Mother Nature.   I know plenty of you are unable to make these talks and have asked that I record one. Well, thanks to the magic of technology (for that read Jamie Pankhurst who works in the Fishing Breaks office as well as out on the river as guide and keeper) we recorded the event on Friday night. We are just doing some editing, captioning and it will shortly be available on You Tube.   I will bring you more news next time, but for now here is the pie chart minus allocations of shame, though the miscreants are named. I think you will be able to pin the tail on these particular donkeys until the full chart is revealed.   THE PIE CHART OF SHAME

 

Pin the tails on the donkeys: Abstraction. Climate Change. Pollution (agriculture). Pollution (the rest). The Built Environment.

 

 

Pickering anglers score another court victory   Back in December you might recall that I bought you news of the Pickering Fishing Association who had taken the Environment Agency (EA) to the High Court as a result of pollution to the tiny Costa Beck in Yorkshire.   It was an unusual case in that it did not seek to blame the EA for the pollution from the sewage treatment works (650 recorded incidents in 2019-20) but rather their response which was meant to follow guidelines set out on regulations that passed into law over the past two decades. However, the Pickering anglers successfully argued the EA consultation was window dressing and the subsequent plan a box ticking exercise. The High Court judge agreed characterising the EA approach as one of “smoke and mirrors”, noting that the EA programme of measures could not reasonably be expected to achieve the stated environmental objectives. As the angling club successfully argued, the EA was in effect planning to fail.     Where the fight for our rivers will be won?   Subsequent to that judicial review the High Court handed down an Order on 13 February that is highly significant. The EA had argued that it was enough under the Water Framework Directive and other legislation for them to offer pollution solutions based at river basin district level, or even national level.   The Order denies this premise, telling the EA they must provide for remedies to be undertaken at the individual water body level. In the case of Costa Beck the EA cannot simply say their Humber River Basin Management Plan, of which the Beck is a few miles of many hundreds of miles, is enough but rather come up with a specific plan for the Costa Beck. Costs were awarded against the EA and the further costs to the Pickering Association capped in the event of an appeal by the EA.   This is another significant victory for legal activism, a real case, assuming the EA does not win any appeal, of David slaying Goliath which will ensure the EA will have to act to actively protect each and every one of the 4929 water bodies in England rather than come up with grand plans which sidestep very real local issues.     River Test keepers keep up pressure on Southern Water   Talking of victories, the CEO of Southern Water Lawrence Gosden has issued a letter in response to the overpumping protest by river keepers on the River Test at Chilbolton last month. He gives his personal assurance that no further overpumping will take place into the River Test (this letter is dated 30/January) and the Chilbolton overpumping was never really going to happen anyway, the arrival of pipes, pumps and authorisations simply a contingency. We believe you Lawrence, thousands would not. By coincidence, the day after that letter and after further requests for information from protestors, overpumping at both Penton Mewsey and Appleshaw into Test headwaters, ceased.   Cue huge sighs of relief but, there is always a but, the relief was short-lived after reports from ever vigilant River Test keepers. On 8/February, a mile downstream of Chilbolton due to a ‘technical fault’ at the Fullerton sewage works, that is just upstream of the Mayfly Inn that I am sure many of you know, there was in Southern Water’s words, ‘a short duration of an unpermitted release of wastewater’. Monitoring and investigations continue as I write, but Southern Water have form when it comes to the Fullerton site which has regularly been featured in the press, on TV and by local residents over many years as a source of pollution.

 

The Mayfly Inn

 

 

Quiz   The normal random collection of questions inspired by the date, events or topics in the Newsletter. It is just for fun with answers at the bottom of the page.   1)     Who released which album on this day in 1973 that has sold 50 million copies since?   2)     How many full moons are there each year?   3)     How many people have walked on the Moon? A) 6 B) 8 C) 10 D) 12?

 

Have a good weekend.  Best wishes,

 

 

Simon Cooper simon@fishingbreaks.co.uk Founder & Managing Directorwww.fishingbreaks.co.uk

 

 

Quiz answers:   1)     Pink Floyd Dark Side of the Moon 2)     12 or 13 the latter happening roughly every 2.5 years hence the term ‘once in a blue moon’. 3)     D) 12