Shrewsbury river campaigners visit the Houses of Parliament as part of a national day of lobbying
Shrewsbury river campaigners Up Sewage Creek visited the Houses of Parliament on Tuesday, 17 March, for a national day of lobbying hosted by The Sewage Campaign Network.
The event saw campaigners from across the UK heading to Westminster to lobby MPs about the need to bring water back into public ownership.
Up Sewage Creek campaigners Claire Kirby, Paulene Wilson, and Tina Teearu met with Shrewsbury MP Julia Buckley during the event. They delivered 150 postcards from Shrewsbury residents calling for water companies to stop polluting for profit.
Paulene Wilson from Up Sewage Creek says: ‘We promised Shrewsbury residents that we would send a message to the Government and we did exactly that, with over 150 personalised postcards delivered to Westminster during a day of national lobbying. We’re grateful to our MP Julia Buckley for being such a good host and for agreeing to deliver the postcards to Emma Reynolds, the Environment Secretary on behalf of the town.’
The event saw famous campaigners including Feargal Sharkey, president of the Sewage Campaign Network, rubbing shoulders with MPs and giving them the latest information about the state of waterways across the UK.
Campaigner Claire Kirby says: ‘We met scores of MPs as well as campaigners like Ash Smith and Peter Hammond whose story is at the heart of the shocking Channel 4 docudrama Dirty Business. We left Parliament convinced that we can win the argument on public ownership.
"One well-known Labour MP told us that the Government’s new Water White Paper is just “tinkering around the edges”. Other Labour MPs told us that the Green Party’s boost in the polls is making the Government nervous – and that their call for public ownership could well pressure the Government into rethinking their position. Around 82% of the public want water taken back into public ownership. Doing it would be an easy way for this Government to finally give people the change we all voted for.’
During the event, campaigners also heard about the real life tragedy of 8-year-old Heather Preen who died after contracting E coli on a Devon beach. Heather’s mother briefed MPs in person on the threat that raw sewage in our waterways poses to human health. Campaigners also learned that every water company has treatment plants that operate illegally with only a tiny fraction of wrong-doing being investigated by the Environment Agency.
Campaigner Tina Teearu says: "People say that sewage dumping has become normalised, but the issue clearly isn’t going away nationally or locally. Going to Parliament gave us the hope that we can make a difference. We just need to keep lobbying our MP. If you want to get involved, come and join the family-friendly Up Sewage Creek procession through town at midday on Sunday starting from Abbey Gardens where we’ll be calling for water to be taken back into public ownership."
