River Brent campaigners join tens of thousands in March for Clean Water
A group of 50 members from the Clean Up the River Brent campaign (CURB) joined tens of thousands of protesters on the March for Clean Water in central London on Sunday. The demonstration, organised by the charity River Action, was called to protest about the shocking level of pollution in Britain’s waterways and to demand that the government take immediate action to end the poisoning of our rivers, lakes and seas by a lethal cocktail of raw sewage, agricultural waste and other chemical pollutants. Figures released by the Environment Agency earlier this year showed that 2023 was England’s worst year on record for sewage spills.
The protesters wore blue to create an image of a river snaking through the streets of London. Banners condemned polluters and criticised the government and water companies for a lack of action.
Photo: Richard Carter
CURB marchers meet at Vauxhall Station Photo: Richard Carter
Ben Morris, founder of CURB and trustee of the Brent River Park (BRP) charity, holding aloft a stick covered with the sort of detritus dragged out of the River Brent, said:
“It’s astonishing that there are thousands of properties in the capital whose raw sewage is piped directly into rivers, without even seeing a treatment works. There are 5 such buildings on the Brent, and our volunteers have counted the wet-wipes and sampled the water to prove it.
These cases represent a complete failure of Property and Environmental regulation, and we call on the Local Authorities, Thames Water, the Environment Agency, and Property Owners, working with the Mayoral Authority, to sit down and sort this problem out once and for all.”
Founder of CURB, Ben Morris, with a stick displaying examples of river pollution. Photo: Richard Carter
BRP trustee Steven Toft, who was also on the march, added:
“It’s now possible to build new housing and commercial developments with foul water flushing straight into the rivers and nobody notices until it’s too late. It’s hardly surprising that our rivers are full of effluent when the regulatory regime is so ineffective. The only way to deal with this is tougher laws and stronger enforcement. As long as it is easy to cut costs by dumping sewage into rivers, people will continue to do it.”
When the protesters arrived at Parliament Square, they heard speeches from environmental activists such as Chris Packham and Liz Bonnin. Members of the Brent contingent were interviewed for the BBC news bulletin.
The campaign organisers hope that the sheer number of people on the march will encourage the government to take tougher action. As Ben Morris remarked:
“Unless the government takes tough measures, this year will be another record year for pollution and so will the next. Unless it stops, our rivers will die.”
The Brent River Park charity, through our Clean Up The River Brent campaign (CURB), will maintain its campaign on this issue and will continue its Environment Agency sponsored work to monitor pollution in the River Brent.
To become a free member of the Brent River Park charity, stay up-to-date and find out more about the Brent River Park visit the membership page on our website: www.brentriverpark.org Twitter / X and Instagram @BrentRiverPark
