Our River Given The Cold Treatment

Residents have a lot to be proud of in our town with Shrewsbury being featured in publications espousing her natural beauty, independent shops and a lively market. So why are we tolerating a filthy, unloved and neglected river?

Wet Wipes hang nestled among branches and leaves. a very visible sign of the distress our waterways are in.

Just a short walk down from Underdale Road, takes you to a large expansive area of greenery sitting under the imposing Telford Way, a small temporary lake made by recent floods sits nestled under the view of neighbouring houses. The River Severn stretches alongside, flowing slowly, carrying along a small raft of ducks. It sounds almost idyllic. Almost. For as you approach the river and walk along its banks a much fouler picture emerges. Wet Wipes, Tissue Paper and Sanitary Products populate the trees; hanging high in the branches and scattered along the muddy banks. They wash in and out of the murky brown of our famous River.

In 2021 the Underdale CSO (Combined Sewage Overflow) just upstream from this dumped waste nine times for a total of seven hours into our River. The CSO just off Clive Road, in a tiny water way, discharged waste a staggering seventy-one times, with ninety hours recorded. Our current government voted through a much-diluted Environmental Target on the waterways which allows the water companies to continue to self-regulate the waste they put into our river.

This is obviously a very passionate topic for residents of Shrewsbury as witnessed by the sold-out meeting in the Theatre Severn. Our sitting MP Daniel Kawczynski sat on the side-lines for this vote, Labour will strive to ensure that the Environment Agency place a strict timetable on the water companies to clean up their mess.

Facts about our sewage

FUNDING CUTS
Environment Agency funding has been cut by two-thirds since 2010 from £128 million to less than £40 million. The Environment Agency has cut monitoring of our rivers by 50%.
SHAREHOLDERS REAPING PROFITS
Since Privatisation Water Companies have handed over £72 billion in profits to shareholders. The amount it would cost to stop storm sewage entering our rivers.
REPORTS IGNORED
80% of sewage incidents reported to the Evironmental Agency by the public are no longer visited due to cuts.
SEVERN TRENT PROFIT
Severn Trent have recorded profits of £1.1 billion between 2013 and 2017 with CEO earning over £2 million in 2018.
COMBINED SEWAGE OVERFLOWS (CSOs)
CSOs were designed to release diluted sewage infrequently. Due to Increased development and outdated sewerage these discharge regularly during rainfall.