RIVER campaigners are calling for tougher action to end sewage pollution in rivers and seas in York and North Yorkshire.
Wild Waters Yorkshire has launched a campaign ahead of the proposed Clean Water Bill, urging Yorkshire MPs to back stronger regulation and public accountability for water companies.
The group surveyed 433 Yorkshire Water customers across 44 parliamentary constituencies in September, with 92 per cent expressing very concerned about sewage in waterways.
- Injured barn owl left in box outside North Yorkshire charity - can you help?
- North Yorkshire school named among best in country in prestigious league table
A spokesperson for Wild Waters Yorkshire said: "The Wild Waters Yorkshire campaign wants to see this change.
"We want to see Yorkshire Water start to act in the interests of water bill payers and to protect and restore the rivers & coasts of our county.
"Many believe there will be attempts to water down the impact that this Clean Water Bill will have. We have lots of evidence that Yorkshire constituents want the Bill to be strong."
Campaigners are lobbying all 50 Yorkshire MPs whose constituents are served by Yorkshire Water.
The group as they passed by North Street Gardens (Image: Alice Kavanagh)
The Clean Water Bill, which is expected to go before Parliament later this year, aims to overhaul regulation by replacing Ofwat and the Environment Agency with a single regulator and promises tougher enforcement.
Campaigners added that no UK water company executive has been prosecuted in the last five years.
The survey also found that 86 per cent were very concerned about the bonus paid to Yorkshire Water’s CEO, 76 per cent about dividends paid by Yorkshire Water, and 70 per cent about the effectiveness of the Environment Agency that are supposed to regulate Yorkshire Water.
More than four in five (81.3 per cent) believe water companies should be nationalised and run in the public sector.
A boat protest (Image: Alice Kavanagh)
York Central MP Rachael Maskell said: "The public have been consistently failed by Yorkshire Water, as it ever raises its customer’s bills to pay its bosses and shareholders, while allowing some of the worst polluted rivers to fill with sewage and chemicals.
"We want to be able to enjoy our rivers and this is why I have made it clear to the water minister, that not only must Yorkshire Water be placed under public ownership, but we must develop robust systems of accountability to the public.
"This cannot be a moment for tinkering around the edges but transforming the way water is managed in every catchment for the benefit of the environment and the people who depend on it."
Both MPs will take part in a mass lobby event across York city centre on Friday (October 23), organised by campaigners ahead of the Clean Water Bill going before parliament later in the year.