Campaigners to meet Environment Agency about river Onny concerns

An online petition “to stop the pipe” has reached nearly 8,000 signatures, with locals and environmentalists worried that a four-mile pipe will be built to carry sewage effluent from Bishop’s Castle and “dump it” in the river Onny.

There are also signs along the A49 and A489 near the river highlighting the issue. 

Currently, the effluent is discharged from the river Kemp, a tributary of the river Clun. Regulations that apply to the Clun require any additional pollution, such as from housing development, be offset by a reduction elsewhere in the same catchment.

The Onny is home to various wildlife, including otters, kingfishers and dippers. It also contains a strong population of brown trout and grayling, as well as being an important ground for Atlantic salmon.

However, locals are concerned that Severn Trent is planning to transport the sewage effluent over a hill into the next valley where the Onny flows.

Severn Trent has told people “not to jump to conclusions” over misinformation that sewage could be dumped into the river, saying it is working closely with the Environment Agency and Natural England to ensure the proposals will not generate any negative impacts, adding that its contribution to nutrients in the Clun is “exceedingly low”.

John Wood, from the Onny Preservation Group, says he is unconvinced by Severn Trent’s the justification, saying if it’s true that impact of the effluent on the Clun is exceedingly low, then “what is the point in building the pipe?”

“The fact that Severn Trent may have reduced their own pollution in the Clun catchment won’t help industry and agriculture reduce theirs at all,” said Mr Wood.

“In fact it is more likely that it will achieve the exact opposite. The pressure on industry and agriculture to reduce their own pollution will be eased, and they could even be free to increase their pollution by replacing what Severn Trent had managed to remove.

“Severn Trent’s self-proclaimed justification for the pipe is muddled and extremely weak – it just doesn’t stack up. It should certainly not be given the go-ahead by the Environment Agency and Natural England.

“We are concerned that Severn Trent are trying to downplay the damage that the sewage effluent from the pipe would inevitably cause to the Onny. In doing so they are undermining their case for building it in the first place.”

Mr Wood added that the group is due to meet with the Environment Agency on Monday (February 24), with a stakeholders event taking place the following day.

Samantha Wilson, environmental communications lead at Severn Trent, said: “It’s absolutely crucial for us that we’re working alongside the community that we serve. While we’ve been in communication with them, we are very keen to meet with the Onny Preservation Group and hope to have a really constructive discussion to better understand and address their concerns about this proposal.”

An Environment Agency spokesperspon added: “We require Severn Trent Water to carry out a thorough environmental assessment to consider the potential impacts of any transfer both on the Clun river catchment and the river Onny. We will then consider the results of the assessment before any pipeline could proceed.”