Prominent campaigner to speak as Shrewsbury river meeting agenda released
A prominent national campaigner will speak at a meeting to combat river pollution.
The agenda for the Shrewsbury Town Council meeting next Monday has been confirmed, and Ashley Smith of Windrush Against Sewage Pollution will speak about campaigning from a national perspective. All 250 tickets for the event at Theatre Severn's Walker Theatre have already been snapped up.
Councillor Kate Halliday, who set up the event, will introduce the discussion, before Mr Smith speaks.
Then Shropshire Wildlife Trust's Pete Lambert and Andy Jones, of Shrewsbury Town Fisheries, will provide details of what is happening locally on the River Severn.
Up Sewage Creek will provide an update on their campaign activity to clean up the river. Time has also been allotted for MPs Daniel Kawczynski and Philip Dunne to log on from Westminster and have their say. Both the Shrewsbury and Ludlow MP have been invited, but they are not expected to join.
Members of the public and councillors will also have chance to put questions to a panel of experts and interested parties.
The meeting sparked controversy, with Mr Kawczynski accusing local councillors of "misinformation" regarding river pollution.
Up Sewage Creek also invited 80s pop star and prominent anti-river pollution campaigner Feargal Sharkey to the meeting. River pollution in Shropshire recently caught the attention of Mr Sharkey, who said he believes it will be "a massive issue" at the next election.
Claire Kirby, from Up Sewage Creek, said: "We're really pleased that we're at full capacity. It goes to show people want to be informed. If we lose the river, what have we got left?"
A spokesman for Severn Trent Water, said recently: “We are absolutely committed to improving the health of our region’s rivers and we are working closely with communities across Shropshire to make progress, including through the creation of a bathing quality river in Ludlow.
“We’re continuing to invest £100m a year to go even further in improving our region’s rivers and are moving faster than sector targets to improve river quality. Last year we pledged that our operations will not be the reason for unhealthy rivers by 2030.
“Based on Environment Agency (EA) measures called RNAGS (Reasons for Not Achieving Good Status), current data from the EA shows that water companies are responsible for 24% of RNAGS in England, while other sectors are responsible for the remaining 76%.
“In the last year we have made progress and already reduced Severn Trent’s contribution to rivers in our region not achieving good environmental status to 18%, putting us ahead of our plan to reach 0% by 2030.”
The Shrewsbury river pollution meeting will begin at 6pm next Monday.
