Welcome! I’m Sarah Hartley and this is The Northern Eco newsletter. As you’ve received this newsletter then either you subscribed or someone forwarded it to you. If the latter, then you can click on this handy little button below.
![a sign warning f the dangers at the river wharfe in Ilkley a sign warning f the dangers at the river wharfe in Ilkley](https://substackcdn.com/image/fetch/w_1456,c_limit,f_auto,q_auto:good,fl_progressive:steep/https%3A%2F%2Fsubstack-post-media.s3.amazonaws.com%2Fpublic%2Fimages%2F1fad4d5d-8ce7-4350-bf94-bd56ef50d97a_640x480.jpeg)
The level of sewage pollution at a popular North Yorkshire beauty spot is now so bad that signs need to be erected telling people not to paddle or swim.
Tourists and families visiting The Falls in Richmond will be advised to keep out of the water amid fears their health could be impacted due to sewage pollution.
It’s hard to overstate the impact such as move could have on the town. The river is a magnet for tourists and day trippers who flock to spend a while, tucking into an ice cream or enjoying a picnic and a paddle. But more than that, the river is integral to the town’s psyche - a living calendar for the seasons.
From the gentle spring Duck Race to a raging winter torrent breaking its banks and not forgetting the summer madness when the heat drives ill-advised leaps from the waterfalls. The Swale’s journey through the town and its outskirts is a seasonal marking of time that syncs people with the natural world.
The need for warning signage comes after campaigners at Save Our Swale shared the shocking results of its water monitoring work at the second public meeting on Saturday.
Testing carried out by volunteers at various locations along the Swale has found unacceptably high levels of harmful pollutants including e-coli.
E-coli can cause stomach cramps, diarrhea and vomiting. Although healthy adults usually recover from infection with E-coli within a week, young children and older adults have a greater risk of developing a life-threatening form of kidney failure.
The SOS group had been seeking Bathing Water Status for the waterway which would have ensured the Environment Agency would undertake its own water monitoring to put pressure on Yorkshire Water to reduce the amount of sewage being dumped in the river.
But that route has now been closed off for at least two years after the government closed the scheme for applications last month. SOS campaigner Deborah Meara laid out the group’s next steps:
Continue the water quality monitoring
Monitor the health of the invertebrate population to provide a measure of the ecosystem
Install signage at The Falls to warn people of the pollution
Create social media alerts when sewage dumping is occurring
Share pollution data with Surfers Against Sewage to incorporate into its app for the public
Learning from the experience at Ilkley
Earlier at the town hall meeting, the attendees heard from experience of the Ilkley Clean River group which was the first in the country to obtain Bathing Water Status for the River Wharfe.
Professor Becky Maltby shared the progress there which has led to a commitment of infrastructure work from OFWAT.
The Ilkley Clean River group undertook the same citizen science testing that SOS is busy collecting and has spent years protesting to Yorkshire Water (YW) about the sewage dumping.
“They (YW) treat us as the little people that don’t count. It is completely ridiculous that we should be spending our own time doing this monitoring when we all pay them for this.”
Politicians pushed for action
Among the audience at the meeting were three Richmond election candidates - Daniel Callaghan (Lib Dem), Kevin Foster (Green) and Tom Wilson (Labour).
The SOS group’s action plan includes political lobbying to bring pressure to bear on Yorkshire Water.
(The full list of those seeking votes in the constituency, including the Prime Minister, can be found here.)
And that political pressure starts on 21 June when a hustings is being arranged to give the public an opportunity to hear what the politicians would do on this issue if elected. The location for that event is TBC and we’ll bring you details once they’re known.
Action on the River Ure
In a separate move, concerned residents in Wensleydale will be meeting to set up a campaign group against pollution in the River Ure. The open meeting is on at 6pm on Tuesday, June 25 at Leyburn Methodist church hall. Charlotte Simons of the Yorkshire Dales River Trust (YDRT) and Clare Beasant, Yorkshire Water’s River Health Improvement Manager, are expected to attend.
The issue of river pollution was the first environmental campaign The Northern Eco reported on when we started in 2023. We’ve been closely following the activities of the different campaign groups ever since and have now built up quite an archive on this topic. Paid subscribers get unlimited access to the archive and can explore via the sections as well using a keyword search in the archive eg. Swale. Another good reason to become a full member here!
In other news
📝 Have you completed our survey yet? Following the conclusion of #IndieNewsWeek, we’d love to hear your thoughts. Please help us improve The Northern Eco by completing this survey.
🌼 Congratulations to flower farmer Heidi Varley who has been named as one of the top 100 faces in the florist industry. Tom Burgess, the Darlington Reporter at the D&S has more on the award here. You can also read our special #IndieNewsWeek report about Heidi’s work here.
🚮 Crisp packets dating back to the 1980s are among a mountain of waste cleared from Northumberland's beaches so far this year, reports Jo Lonsdale of BBC News, North East and Cumbria.
🪡 The first Richmondshire Repair and Repurposing Cafe took place on Sunday with scores of people taking in everything from broken toys to bicycles and electrical equipment. Busy scenes greeted me when I popped in to get the zip on a much-loved handbag fixed - thanks go to Sue for that! Richmondshire Climate Action Partnership intend there will be further repair cafes in other locations soon.
💩 Michael Holmes at The Lead looks at how the boss of water firm United Utilities has been urged to reconsider her position as a Blackpool ambassador - as millions of people visiting the resort this year are told to stay clear of the dangerously dirty sea because of sewage spills.
I’ll be back on Friday with a round up of the eco events coming up over the next few weeks. If you have an event to share with readers of The Northern Eco do drop me an email with the details: sarah@thenortherneco.com.