The government has been accused of quietly shelving a delayed plan to restore the polluted River Wye after letters from the government show it is incomplete with no publication date in sight.
Letters revealed to the Guardian under freedom of information (FoI) laws show the then environment secretary, Thérèse Coffey, told stakeholders in August that the government was “close to finalising” the plan to save the Wye and measures would be published within three months.
The Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra) refused to disclose this plan to the Guardian under FoI, stating that it had not been finished. No date has been given for publication.
The letters also reveal that Herefordshire council representatives wrote to the new environment secretary, Steve Barclay, in November, asking him to investigate what had happened to the promised plan. The representatives, whose identities were redacted in the FoI release, asked him: “It may have been by oversight but having had our expectations raised locally, sadly, no plan has been emerged. I would be grateful if you could investigate what has happened to the development of the special plan for the Wye and clarify who is developing it and when it will be published.” Barclay has not responded.
Campaigners fear the plan to save the river, which has gone from being clear and beautiful to resembling “pea soup”, and has been described as being in an “ecological death spiral” is being quietly delayed until the general election because it would include unpopular measures to stop farmers polluting the river with chicken manure.
The letters reveal a reason for delay was that stakeholders including agricultural groups and water companies could not agree responsibility or which actions to take to protect the river from pollution. A representative from Herefordshire council, whose identity was redacted in the FoI release, warned Coffey: “At present, not all agencies, councils, delivery partners, rural businesses or indeed the environmental lobby are agreed on either the evidence, or the best solutions to tackle the challenge. The lack of agreement is impeding progress with the constant need to revisit options already disregarded.”
Charles Watson, founder of water campaign group River Action, said: “The government’s apparent disregard for the desperate environmental plight of the River Wye is just shocking. These revelations show in August last year ago the secretary of state assuring Herefordshire council that Defra was “close to finalising” its promised emergency action plan to mitigate the river’s severe pollution crisis.
“Unbelievably, eight months later, there still is no sign of that plan, let alone any progress report of its development. One can’t help feeling that the lame excuses being offered by Defra regarding why it can’t disclose any further information on the matter are because the government’s promise to implement a special plan to save the Wye has been quietly abandoned and swept under the carpet.”
The Wye’s ecological status was recently downgraded by Natural England from “unfavourable-improving” to “unfavourable-declining”, meaning its condition is poor, and worsening. The assessment found the river, which flows for 155 miles from mid-Wales to the Severn estuary in England, had experienced declines in key species such as the Atlantic salmon and white-clawed crayfish.
Previous studies have linked its decline to intensive chicken farming on the catchment. This is because the poultry reared in the area produce large amounts of manure, which contains nutrients including phosphorus. Much of this is spread on the land, which can result in phosphorus entering the river.
The council recommended Coffey set up a taskforce to direct these groups to act and stop the squabbling. She rejected this suggestion, writing that the Environment Agency and Natural England already fulfilled the duties of a taskforce. She said: “These bodies make decisions about how best to discharge these duties and it would not be appropriate for a taskforce to intervene in this process.”
A Defra spokesperson denied the claims but did not give a date for when the plan would be published or finished. They said: “These claims are untrue. We remain fully committed to the River Wye action plan.”
