WE ARE fortunate to have a large stretch of river running through the City of Chester that is used for leisure and recreational purposes.
If you were to walk along just a patch of the 18.5km stretch of the river Dee that runs from south of Aldford up to the England-Wales border west of Curzon Park, you would see canoeists and kayakers paddling, day visitors taking a boat trip from the Groves, anglers casting out to fish, boatloads of rowers training, and birdwatchers observing the abundance of wildlife on offer.
The river is home to a plethora of activity that makes Chester such a wonderful and unique place to live and visit. However, the levels of sewage and pollution being dumped into the river is holding back our potential to make Chester an even greater place to live, work and visit.
A recent report published by Ofwat – the economic regulator of the water and wastewater sector in England and Wales – found that people’s trust in water companies to deliver on their commitments has fallen over the last 12 months.
Their report found that levels of trust in water companies to provide good quality drinking water, fix leaking pipes, deal with sewage wastewater and act in the interests of the environment, have fallen since March 2022. The report also found almost two-fifths of respondents don’t trust their water company to prevent sewage from entering rivers.
In 2021, almost 2,000 hours’ worth of untreated sewage and storm water was discharged into the City of Chester stretch of the river Dee. Polluted water is an eyesore for the residents and visitors of Chester and poses a significant risk to public health but, under current legislation, is permitted. Almost all of Britain’s waterways are polluted with only 16 per cent of waterways close to a good ecological status. The Government recently extended its schedule to achieve good chemical and ecological status for all UK waterways from 2027 to 2063. This needs to improve significantly.
I have organised an assembly of local organisations with interest and influence in the levels of sewage being dumped into the Dee to meet this week and discuss the current and future state of the Dee. With the partnership of local groups, I hope that a clear path for how we stop sewage being dumped into the Dee can be found, and Chester’s true potential unlocked.