Local MP Jesse Norman recently met with Helen Venn, the Chief Regulatory Officer at the Office of Environmental Protection (OEP), and her team to discuss the plight of the River Wye.

The OEP is a new and independent body set up to oversee and enforce environmental protections, following the UK's departure from the European Union. It is charged by statute with a mission to protect and improve the environment by holding government and other public authorities to account.

During the meeting, Jesse Norman described in detail the threat to the River Wye and its natural habitats posed by phosphate pollution, and the campaign he has been leading since 2020 to clean up the river. He pressed the OEP to take the Wye up as an early case study for their regulatory intervention and enforcement powers.

Commenting, Jesse Norman said:

“It was great to meet with Helen Venn and her team.

“These are early days for the OEP as an organisation, but it is already clear that it can make a real difference in enforcing and improving environmental protections for our rivers.

“I am particularly encouraged that they may consider looking at the River Wye as a specific case study.”

For more information on the work of the Office of Environmental Protection, please visit their website at:  www.gov.uk/government/organisations/office-for-environmental-protection.

For more details on Jesse's campaign to clean up the Wye, go to: https://jesse4hereford.com/cleaning-wye-campaign