Your say / rivers
‘It’s great to see big business taking action, rather than just local residents’
This spring the regulator, Ofwat, approved five year plans for all water companies in England & Wales, and subsequently the local environmental delivery plans have been published.
These plans show Wessex Water will upgrade ten Combined Sewer Overflows (CSOs) currently affecting the river Trym by the end of 2030. A further 19 CSOs entering the Trym will be investigated by 2030, ahead of making further improvements where needed.
Less pollution will be fantastic news for nature in the area and should lessen the smells locals sometimes encounter near the river. For context, the ten selected CSOs between them spilled over 350 times in 2024 (the Rivers Trust, Is my river safe to play in?)
is needed now More than ever
The Trym plan is the culmination of extensive dialogue over a number of years by Trout in the Trym, namely myself and Alex Dunn, with Wessex Water, who have now prioritised fixing the river.
Demonstrating that the Trym is valued by local communities and the extensive work by volunteers underpinned discussions.
Trout in the Trym is a grassroots initiative which has involved over a hundred people up and down the Trym and its main tributary the Hazel Brook – from Henbury, Southmead and Westbury on Trym to Sea Mills.
Since 2019 volunteers have worked relentlessly to remove 400 tonnes of rubbish from the river and nearby green-spaces – including 18 motorbikes, dozens of carpets, clothing and lots of plastic.
They’ve also spent hundreds of hours removing invasive non-native Himalayan balsam plants and they regularly monitor water quality, riverfly populations and report pollution incidents.
The river looks far better and recent wildlife sightings include kingfishers, grey wagtails, little egrets, mullet, brown trout and freshwater eels (now nationally rare).
I’m pleased that big business is taking action, rather than just local residents. We will now switch our focus to checking that Wessex Water deliver on their plan.
Access to quality green and blue space is known to boost mental health, so this will be good for people as well as nature.
About 80,000 people live within a mile or so and feedback from local residents to the volunteers is very positive. With less pollution there should be more riverflies, fish and birds in a few years’ time.
If you want to visit, heading upstream along the path from the Coombe Dingle car park is a great place to start.
This is an opinion piece by Peter Coleman-Smith, a member of the Trout in the Trym community group working to actively improve the ecology of the river Trym in north Bristol.
All images: Peter Coleman-Smith
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