Harrogate MP takes Nidd water pollution issue to Minister and highlights run-off from farmland as major problem

Andrew Jones MP briefed the new Secretary of State for the Environment, Rt Hon Steve Barclay MP, on the bid to designate the Nidd at the Lido in Knaresborough as a bathing water.

If successful, the Environment Agency would work with Yorkshire Water, local farmers, businesses and residents to put in place a five-year plan to improve the quality of the water in the river.

The bid is backed by local councils, wild swimmers, anglers and community groups who have submitted letters of support to the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra).

After the meeting, Mr Jones said: “Mr Barclay has taken up post since I originally submitted the bid and so I wanted to brief him personally.

“The Nidd is used by hundreds of people for recreation.

"The Bathing Water Status bid is about helping them to do that in a consistently cleaner and healthier environment with water quality that shows sustained improvement.

"While a decision is yet to be made, it was clear to me that he was impressed with the information gathered by local volunteers and the many letters of support."

The Harrogate MP, who faced questions recently over when it would be safe to swim in the Nidd, lays the problems of the Nidd at the feet of run-off from farmland which contains chemicals from pesticides and animal waste.

He also points to historic pollution problems such as peat bog erosion and metal mining.

“The main cause of pollution in the Nidd is run-off from farmland which contains chemicals from pesticides and animal waste,” said Mr Jones.

"The farming community upstream are key partners for our campaign for better water quality.

“There is also a legacy of mining along the Nidd when iron, zinc, lead, cadmium, aluminium, manganese and copper leached into the river."

But Nidd Action Group, one of the key groups backing the MP’s bid for Bathing Water Status is also highlighting the amount of raw sewage being discharged by Yorkshire Water, including human waste, leading to what has been condemned as “concerningly high” levels of the bacteria E. coli.

Its case was strengthened by Professor Peter Hammond, a retired expert in computational biology, whose studies showed the equivalent of 317 Olympic pools of raw sewage had been discharged in 2020 alone at four sewage treatment works along the Nidd - Pateley Bridge, Harrogate, Darley and Kirk Hammerton.

Meanwhile, Jamie Duncan, who has worked on the Nidd for the Environment Agency, claims housebuilding across Harrogate and Knaresborough is leading to more sewage being discharged in the river.

Mr Jones acknowledges the problem but says action is being taken.

"The overflows provide a valuable service stopping sewage from backing up into our homes but they operate too often.

"But Yorkshire Water are investing £180 million over two years to reduce the operation of storm overflows.”

Winning Bathing Water Status would mean that each year during the peak bathing season between May and September, the Environment Agency would test the Lido Leisure Park section of the river for pollutants, including E-coli.

Defra is expected to announce the result later this year.

Only three rivers in England have been designated Bathing Water Status.