Latest news with #StAustellRiver
BBC News
22-07-2025
- General
- BBC News
Cornwall charity calls for better access to water company fines
A Cornwall charity is calling for improvements to how money is distributed to organisations when water companies are fined for previous government introduced a Water Restoration Fund, with £11m from penalties recently distributed to local projects instead of going to the Treasury. Nick Taylor, of Three Bays Wildlife Group, said he had to withdraw a funding application because most of the money would have been paid in arrears. "We do not have the funds for that, we would have had to find another grant to get the money - it's ridiculous," he has said more than £100m in water company fines will go to local environmental projects with more detail "in due course". Mr Taylor regularly monitors the water quality on the St Austell River in Cornwall, also known as the White June, South West Water's Menagwins Wastewater Treatment works on the river was the source of liquid lime pollution that killed thousands of fish, and an investigation is still under way."Last season raw sewage from the stormwater overflow also went down the river three months of the year in terms of hours," Mr Taylor 2024, Mr Taylor put in an application on behalf of the White River Project to the Water Restoration Fund but said he had to withdraw because most the money would have been handed over in arrears."I'd definitely like to see the money from the fines paid back on more of a grant basis so it's open to everybody, the system at the moment is just not open to small organisations like ours," he added. Tessa Wardley, from The Rivers Trust, said they had also encountered many issues with the Water Restoration Fund."We're engaging with Defra, the Environment Agency, Natural England and others to try and make sure whatever comes out next works better for the environment and is more easily accessible to organisations of all sizes," she said. £100m fines 'reinvested' A Defra spokesperson said: "The government will invest water company fines into local projects across the country to clean up our rivers, lakes and seas."Over £100m in fines and penalties levied against water companies since October 2023, as well as future fines and penalties, will be reinvested into projects to clean up our waters which could include local programmes to address pollution and improve water quality."They added that "more detail on the projects and programmes that this funding will go towards will be set out in due course".South West Water said following an investigation by regulator Ofwat, it had proposed a £24m enforcement package to be split between reducing the use of storm overflows, sewer misuse and nature recovery."We are talking to Three Bays Wildlife Group about the White River Project and share their vision for the future," it said."Whilst we aren't in a position to confirm exactly how funding from the £2m nature recovery fund will be allocated until the consultation is over, we hope to be able to support them and are continuing our conversations."It comes as the findings were published of a long-awaited review into England and Wales' troubled water up in response to growing public concern about sewage spills and rising bills, it issued 88 recommendations, including abolishing Ofwat and bringing water functions from four different regulators into also warned bills would rise by 30% over the next five years.
Yahoo
20-06-2025
- General
- Yahoo
Dead fish incident leads to no swim warning
An investigation has been launched after dead fish were found in a Cornish river. The Environment Agency (EA) said it received reports at about 17:45 BST on Thursday of the incident in St Austell River, known locally as the "White River". The EA has warned people not to swim at the nearby Pentewan designated bathing water area due to "pollution from sewage". A post on X from EA's South West team said the cause of the incident had not yet been established. The designated bathing area is on Pentewan beach, which is privately owned by the Pentewan Sands Holiday Park. EA said the beach was approximately 1.1km (0.7 miles) wide and its water quality has been rated as excellent every year from 2021 to 2024. More news stories for Cornwall Listen to the latest news for Cornwall Follow BBC Cornwall on X, Facebook and Instagram. Send your story ideas to spotlight@ Warning as slurry pollutes stream near beach Thousands of plastic tubes washed up on beaches Warning as soil pollution incidents almost double Environment Agency
BBC News
20-06-2025
- BBC News
Cornish dead fish incident leads to no swim warning
An investigation has been launched after dead fish were found in a Cornish Environment Agency (EA) said it received reports at about 17:45 BST on Thursday of the incident in St Austell River, known locally as the "White River".The EA has warned people not to swim at the nearby Pentewan designated bathing water area as a result of the incident, with a message on its website saying it involved pollution.A post on X from EA's South West team said the cause of the incident had not yet been established.
