I’ve just spent a couple of days in the gorgeous village of Stonesfield researching the state of the river Evenlode which was recently given the unenviable title of the most polluted river in England.
And it’s hardly surprising given that in the past few years the amount of sewage being pumped in to the river has risen from 8000 hours per year to 12000 hours. The river itself is not insubstantial, being deep enough in some areas to swim in, although these days you’d be brave to risk it given the level of E coli and other nasties lurking in its once crystal clear depths.
I spoke to brilliant local councillor Genny Early about the history of the river that she’s lived near for the past 30 years and the tale was not a happy one. Where once you could look out from the local footbridge at fish swimming amongst the river weeds and watch local dogs play happily in the waters, we now have a soupy grey clag, virtually devoid of life and reputedly toxic to everyone including our canine companions.
The cause is toxic dumping from up to 9 different local sewage works, given effective carte blanche by the Conservative government to use this river, and others in the area, as an open sewer to enable companies like Thames Water to pay out record dividends to investors whilst doing next to nothing to fix inadequate infrastructure.
This is the starkest example of how privatisation has failed us all with greedy and cynical corporations grabbing every opportunity to make obscene amounts of money by (in this case) quite literally shitting on local communities.
I made a video with Genny showing just how bad things have got in this area, in sickening contrast to the beautiful local landscape. You can watch it by clicking here.
We simply can’t allow this situation to continue and only the Greens have the real solution to take privatised utilities back into public control where they belong. Water is quite literally an essential for life on this planet. If we’ve reached the point where that is simply a commodity to be bartered between corporations on the open market we really have reached the bottom of a very murky barrel.
Greens would take water and other essential public utilities and services back into public control as the only way to deal with this obscene failure of duty to keep our waterways and rivers clean and accessible for wildlife and recreation. Other parties are suggesting half way houses of fines and extra taxation. None of that will work in an industry that simply doesn’t care any more.
We need radical solutions to these unprecedented outcomes and only the Green Party has a vision bold enough to deliver those.
Ian Middleton 