Phosphate pollution in the River Wye is a very serious issue, destroying the fragile ecosystem and habitats along this gorgeous river, with huge implications for local businesses, tourism and public health.
Building on the work of Councillor Elissa Swinglehurst and the Wye and Usk Foundation, I was the first to highlight this issue, in September 2020, press the agencies for a collective response, and then call for a cross border, all-catchment collective long-term action plan.
In June 2021, working with Bill Wiggin MP, Fay Jones MP, Mark Harper MP and David Davies MP, I called the national agencies and the local councils on both sides of the border to a special meeting devoted to this issue. In October 2021 I coordinated a letter from Wye catchment MPs to the Chief Secretary to the Treasury, calling for a specific spending package devoted to the Wye in the 2021 three year Spending Review.
The result — finally, lockdowns and other delays notwithstanding — was the Shell Store meeting of July 2022 and the set-up of the Wye Phosphates Working Group, whose terms of reference have now been adopted — very much with my support — by the important Phosphates Commission, established by the four local authorities.
Ministers are not able to speak for themselves in Parliament. But as a backbencher, I highlighted the plight of the River Wye in separate Parliamentary Questions to the Prime Minister, the Deputy Prime Minister and the Secretary of State for DEFRA.
Among other things, I called for the proceeds of fines on water companies to be ring-fenced and devoted to a new National Rivers Recovery Fund. In November 2022 the Government accepted the ring-fencing, which is a major win.
I have also asked the new Office of Environmental Protection to review the situation with the Wye, and expect to meet with them shortly.
I finally, have written extensively on this issue, both in the local and national press, including via the links below.
Jesse Norman takes the opportunity of an Opposition Day debate on farming to call on the Government to ensure that the £35 million allocated for the River Wye Action Plan is retained and River Champion is reappointed.
The government has pledged £35m to help clean up the River Wye. The cash comes after years of campaigning and legal action taken by conservation groups, who say the pollution from agriculture is “killing the river”.
Jesse Norman takes the opportunity of a debate on the water companies to intervene on the Minister and ask when the Government will deliver the action plan for the River Wye which was promised by 15 September and is now long overdue.
Following the Chancellor’s Autumn Statement, Jesse Norman raises the issue of pollution in the River Wye and asks him to consider putting in place a package to support the long-term improvement of the river.
