Swimmers who would love to swim in the River Avon in Bristol - only for Wessex Water discharged raw sewage into the river 23,524 times last year - are taking their campaign to City Hall on Tuesday. The swimmers in the campaign to get the Conham River Park designated for Bathing Water Status are saying some of them will attend the full council meeting of Bristol City Council in their swimwear and Speedos to show how much support there is for the move.
Getting the designated status would mean the Environment Agency would have to properly monitor the quality of the water at the River Park near Hanham - and be responsible for doing something about it, if Wessex Water continue to discharge raw sewage into the river to make it too dirty to swim in.
The application to get the status has to go to the Government’s Defra ministry, but it can’t because it needs the backing of the landowner at the Conham River Park site - and that’s Bristol City Council, and so far the council has refused to say it supports the move.
Read more: Wild swimmers banned from popular Bristol spot due to 'environmental hazards
After the first request was turned down, a petition was started to get the 3,500 signatures needed to see the issue debated by the full council - and after more than 3,500 signed, that is now to happen at Tuesday evening’s meeting.
And to make the case at the meeting, some of those behind the campaign said they will be dressing up, or rather down, in their swimming costumes, with some ‘mermaids’ even getting their tails on to take part in the meeting.
The move comes as wild swimming increasingly becomes an issue for the council. At the weekend, a film was premiered at the Watershed showcasing how Bristol could copy the Danish city of Copenhagen and install an artificial lido in the Floating Harbour at the Cumberland Basin, an idea being put forward by a group of wild swimmers who have been staging protest swims in the harbour for more than a year now.
They say regular tests of water quality show the Cumberland Basin is clean enough to allow people to go swimming there, and the film showed how the Copenhagen pool had become a popular boost to the local economy and a visitor attraction in its own right.
At Conham River Park, the campaigners from the Conham Bathing group said getting the council to back its application to Defra for Designated Bathing Water Status would ultimately lead to giving the Environment Agency more teeth to stop Wessex Water polluting the whole of the River Avon.
“Last year, Wessex Water discharged raw sewage directly into the river 23,524 times for a total duration of 151,258 hours,” a spokesperson for the Conham Bathing group said. “With this status, the Environment Agency would monitor the levels of sewage pollution at the site and be responsible for implementing improvement measures if the water is found to be of persistently poor quality.
“The group need the council's permission to submit the application, as it is the landowner of the site. However, the council has refused to support their efforts due to the Bristol City Docks byelaw, which prohibits swimming in the harbour, including the stretch of river at Conham River Park, despite this being some distance away. We are now demanding the council amend this bye-law, so we can work towards enhancing and protecting the water quality in this treasured nature reserve, not only for public health, but for the river and the wildlife it supports,” they added.
Read next:
- People 'puking up all day' after swimming in Bristol waters amid rise in norovirus
- Beese's riverside bar in Bristol reopening in April for 2022 season
- Stunning wild swimming spots near Bristol
- Wild swimmer's river water warning after friend almost drowns in Bristol
- The 12 rivers of Bristol - the city's hidden gems of nature
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