March for Clean Water
A fun day out for some of the ColneCAN team on Sunday (November 3) but with the firm intention to deliver a serious message about the deeply alarming state of our rivers and oceans.
Hats off to Sue for wandering the streets of London dressed as a Heron – it had the desired affect, attracting photographers and the media from far and wide – see BBC London news
In our view there was still too much emphasis on sewage in rivers. Obviously, it is a serious issue that urgently needs to be resolved, but there is a much bigger picture that is constantly under-reported.
Although Tony Booker gave the BBC a lengthy interview on that very topic, as usual, that information was lost to the headline-grabbing statements about sewage. Nothing else was aired.
We have been told before by journalists that they prefer to focus their attention on sewage as it sells papers and attracts viewers – in-depth understanding of all the other pollution sources doesn’t. So there we have it.
But let’s keep a glass-half-full mentality and celebrate the fact a huge number of people came together on Sunday. That must surely send a powerful message that we have all had enough.
Labour’s mantra during the recent general election campaign was ‘time for change’. Unfortunately, it has got off to a very disappointing start, with Defra announcing it has just abandoned the crucially important chalk stream recovery pack, one of the few rays of hope amid the darkness of polluted rivers, waterways and seas across the country.
We will continue the fight to end this long nightmare, so that future generations can be sure of clean, safe water and thriving wildlife.
More Information
The abandoned chalk stream recovery pack.
Local River Pollution Problems need Solutions 17/04/24
