Parliamentarians and environment lawyers have joined forces to raise awareness of the need to clean up the River Wye.
Led by Lord David Lipsey, who lives in the Wye catchment area, the group aims to advance the cause of a cleaner Wye in Parliament.
It will focus initially on the debate on the Government’s legislation on water which will have its second reading in the House of Lords on Wednesday 9 October.
Lord Lipsey tabled a written Parliamentary Question on 2 September 2024 to ask the Government what progress they are making with regard to the River Wye Action Plan. On 11 September 2024, the Government responded saying:
“The River Wye is one of our most important, iconic rivers. The level of pollution in the River Wye is unacceptable. That’s why this Government is introducing its first steps to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas.”
The Parliamentary group includes Jesse Norman, Conservative MP for South Herefordshire; David Chadwick, newly elected Liberal Democrat MP for Brecon, Radnor and Cwm Tawe; Ellie Chowns, newly elected Green MP for North Herefordshire; and Lord Lisvane, a crossbencher and former Clerk of the House of Commons who lives close to the Wye.
The group has met with environment legal specialists at law firm Leigh Day where a team is leading a legal claim on behalf of Wye catchment area residents to tackle the issue of pollution in the river.
The current legal claim being led on behalf of Wye catchment area residents by Leigh Day alleges that phosphorus pollution in the Wye has been caused by mass chicken production in the area.
Leigh Day has written to Avara Foods Limited, Freemans of Newent Limited and Cargill PLC laying out details of the claim for private nuisance, public nuisance and a breach of section 73(6) of the Environmental Protection Act 1990, caused by the unlawful deposit of waste.
The action is being brought on a no-win no-fee basis.
In a separate action, a public law claim brought on behalf of River Action by Leigh Day led to a High Court rulingthat farming practices in the Wye catchment area would have to change.
Following the meeting with the cross-party group on Thursday 5 September, Leigh Day partner Oliver Holland said:
“We are pleased to support the work of the cross-party group to raise awareness of the state of the River Wye and the urgent need to take action to improve its condition. We hope our experience of litigation in this area will be useful to the group.”
Lord Lipsey lives near Talgarth and he and his wife Margaret are regular swimmers at Glasbury.
Lord Lipsey said:
“Local walkers, canoeists, paddlers, swimmers, fishermen and indeed caring farmers deserve a clean Wye. We believe this most glorious of rivers has been declining in quality, due to the actions of the big companies wanting to exploit it for more and more poultry production. They must be stopped.”
