Feargal Sharkey takes the sewage fight to Rishi's backyard
The tireless pollution campaigner made an unexpected trip to support River Swale clean up efforts in the Prime Minister's constituency
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Well this was definitely something you don’t see everyday in Richmond! The rockstar turned river campaigner Feargal Sharkey giving an impassioned speech on the banks of the River Swale.
He told a crowd of people who’d gathered to hear him speak as part of his nationwide #stoptheshitshow tour how he’d fished for trout in the Swale in the past and highlighted the fact the river was now polluted. See the video below.
With 240,000 followers on X (Twitter), @Feargal_Sharkey has become a go-to source of news across the UK for sewage pollution and fiercely tackles the water companies.
The visit had been arranged by Labour party candidate Tom Wilson just days before election day as the pollution issue is now firmly on the ballot paper for many people. Both the Green party’s Kevin Foster and the Lib Dem’s Daniel Callaghan have also been actively campaigning about river pollution. You can catch up with their views via our report from the recent hustings, also at the Fosse Car park. The full list of those seeking votes in the constituency can be found here.
This past week has also seen protestors from the Youth Demand group take a dirty protest to Conservative Rishi Sunak’s home. (Please note: that link goes to a report which contains bad language.)
New investigative pollution tool launched
The Richmond event comes just days after a major report from investigative journalists at Watershed ranked the Richmond and Northallerton constituency in the top 10 for potential water pollution.
National newspapers based their reports on Watershed’s Pollution Map which provides an incredible new resource for all those campaigning on this issue. I was fortunate to be among a handful of journalists invited to a briefing session with Watershed about the map’s launch last week.
As well as using the sewage data we’ve all become sadly familiar with over the past many months, the map brings together multiple layers of data from a wide range of sources to reveal the huge number of pressures on rivers, lakes, groundwater and seas.
“It contains more than 120 datasets, ranging from river health, bathing water health, to historic landfill sites, sewage dumping, intensive farming, heavy industry and a lot more. While it’s not going to show you any direct causation between a potential polluter and failing water body, it’s fascinating to see what our rivers, seas, wildlife and habitats are dealing with and it begs further investigation.”
Of particular interest to those considering agricultural impact on the Dales’ River Ure at the newly formed Stop Ure Pollution group (SUP) is likely to be the data the Watershed team is compiling on cattle.
Looking at the postcode district DL8 (which covers Leyburn and surrounding area), the data reveals a cattle population of 38,367. Of those 17,013 are dairy cows with 21,354 being non dairy.
The data on the health of the Ure also shows that the river is in a poor condition - something the citizen science testing planned by SUP should be able to provide more detail about this summer
The team at Watershed is constantly updating the data sources and say they will be investigating more on agricultural impacts in the near future which we’ll keep a track on.
You can explore the map here.
The three most clicked links from last week were:
The battle bus against river pollution rolls into Richmond
In other news
🌳 A citizen science project aimed at building a UK-wide map of where old and new plastic tree shelters are located in the environment has launched a free app - Plot that Plastic. People can download the Survey 123 app to their phone or access it via their desktop, where they will be able to easily record the location of the tree shelters, their condition and other indicators that will help with the mapping process.
Mike Appleton, Woodland Officer at Yorkshire Dales Millennium Trust, said:
“The app will enable us to expand the operation by establishing new recycling hubs and supporting landowners and woodland managers in removing unwanted plastic. We encourage everyone who spends time in the countryside to download the app and help us plot that plastic!”
People can find out more here: www.forestplasticsworkinggroup.co.uk
😤 Richmond children's posters highlighted air pollution from vehicles on National Clean Air Day reports Richmondshire Climate Action Partnership.
💩 Campaigners fighting to stop sewage discharges into Windermere, the Lake District’s largest lake, have made a statutory nuisance complaint against a water company in the first legal action of its kind, reports Sandra Laville at The Guardian.
🪶 Bird watchers were excited to hear of the arrival of a Bridled Tern on Coquet Island earlier this month. Stewart Sexton of Alnwick Wildlife Group describes his attempts to find this exotic visitor in The Ambler.
🐟 Great to see Rileys Fish Shack and Shop in Tynemouth made it onto this list of 10 of the best sustainable eateries on the British coast by Holly O’Neill.
🚮 'Great unwashed' need to learn how to behave in the Dales was the forthright headline from the D&S on Lesley Tate’s report on Cllr David Staveley complaining about huge amounts of rubbish left at Stainforth Foss.
🪶 “I will never forget hearing the different birds singing as they swooped around the enormous Flamborough cliffs, and seeing a puffin for the first time, I felt an almost childlike delight. There was a sense of being an adventurer, of discovering somewhere wild and free.” Author Anita Sethi visits North Landing Beach.
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The Northern Eco will be back on Friday with details of what’s on eco events plus an opportunity to join a leading wildlife conservation charity