Salisbury activists join March for Clean Water in London
Members of Extinction Rebellion Salisbury joined over 130 other organisations in the capital
Last updated 5th Nov 2024
A group of campaigners from Salisbury have joined over a 130 organisations in London to demand action on the state of the city's rivers.
Members of Extinction Rebellion (XR) Salisbury joined New Forest TV Presenter Chris Packham in the capital in a March for Clean Water, with banners including messages such as ‘Stop poisoning Britain’s waterways’, ‘This is Sh*t!’ and ‘Stop polluting for profit’.
The march, wich took place on Sunday 3rd November, began on the Albert Embankment and finished on Parliament Green outside the Houses of Parliament, where a rally took place with many speakers.
DI Cross, of XR Salisbury said she's appalled at what's happening with the water quality in Salisbury's rivers.
"Despite all the publicity recently, the situation is getting much worse. We heard that raw sewage was discharged into our waterways for more than 3.6 million hours in 2023 – an increase of 105% on 2022 – and no single stretch of river in England or Northern Ireland is deemed to be in good overall health.
She added: "Meanwhile, the water companies continue to rake in the profits and put up our water bills. For what? Why should we pay for disgusting service like this? They are failing us and the environment. Action needs to be taken immediately."
Ms Cross continued: “Salisbury is renowned for its Five Rivers but according to the website Top of the Poops, local water company Wessex Water was responsible for at least 41,453 sewage overflows in 2023 – on average 113.6 times a day – lasting for 372,340 hours in 1,118 locations. And then there’s agricultural run-off and single-use plastics added to the mix.
"It’s more a case of Five Open Sewers, rather than Five Rivers."
Dr Richard Sharp said he joined the march because our treatment of rivers and streams is 'symptomatic of the disregard with which we treat nature and the planet generally', while Alice Stephens said she's 'sick' of hearing how bad the rivers are.
She said: "They are such a precious part of our countryside, and treating them this way, so that they end up full of raw sewage, is a disgrace. It just needs the political will to change things."
Mandy Greenwood also joined the march to express her anger and sadness at the impact pollution is having on water quality and water companies failing to deal with sewage responsibly.
She said: "There has been a lot in the news recently about water companies failing to deal responsibly with sewage and the toll on our waterways from chemicals used or produced in farming. I wanted to be part of the huge crowd of British people who are very sad and angry about this situation."