IN THE PRESS
NATIONAL NEWS:
There are national stories and events which impact on the River Sid.
6 December 2022: “The Environment Agency has identified the source of the pollution affecting the Rivers Piall and Yealm in South Devon. We are supporting the work to stop the discharge and prevent further material from being washed down the river.” Rivers Yealm and Piall turn white as water becomes polluted – Devon Live
29 November 2022: “The legal case seeks to compel the Government to rewrite its Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan 2022 and impose tighter deadlines on water companies.” Suing the government over sewage pollution at sea – Vision Group for Sidmouth
25 November 2022: The Government’s Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan (The Plan) is supposed to show how the government will deal with sewage pollution from storm overflows, but… WildFish has started a court action seeking to force the withdrawal and redrafting of the Government’s Sewage Overflows Plan | Wildfish
17 October 2022: Last year in Britain raw sewage was pumped into rivers and coasts 375,000 times. Not a SINGLE river in England has a clean bill of health. Aaron Bastani explains how private water companies are killing the country’s waterways – and why water bosses should face jail time. How Private Water Companies Are Killing Britain’s Rivers | Aaron Bastani – YouTube
26 August 2022: “by 2025, water companies will have reduced overflows discharges from 2020 levels by around 25%.” “By 2035, water companies will have: improved all overflows discharging into or near every designated bathing water; and improved 75% of overflows discharging to high priority sites.” “By 2050, no storm overflows will be permitted to operate outside of unusually heavy rainfall or to cause any adverse ecological harm.” Storm_Overflows_Discharge_Reduction_Plan.pdf
15 June 2022: “Whether it’s to save on a water bill or help the environment, reusing water is a great idea. In fact, reusing “greywater” can reduce water waste by up to 40%.” Greywater: reducing the amount of water we waste – Vision Group for Sidmouth
9 May 2022: The Wildlife Trusts discuss the state of our rivers in the UK and ask why, despite legal protections being put in place, some of them are in a dire state. Are our river protections failing? – Vision Group for Sidmouth
22 January 2022: “The emphasis is ultimately on creating an ecosystem that will sustain itself over time, without the need for constant intervention.” Wetland restoration – the Continent, the UK and the Sid Valley – Vision Group for Sidmouth
17 January 2022: “The report clearly identifies the need for proactive education, citizen engagement, stronger regulations, greater enforcement and better government funding for investigations.” Water quality report: ‘routine pollution in our rivers’ – Vision Group for Sidmouth
29 September 2021: “One way of dealing with this might be environmentally friendly methods of treating human waste, such as constructed treatment wetlands (CTWs), or artificially created wetlands specifically designed for the treatment of wastewaters.” Drugs in our rivers – Vision Group for Sidmouth
15 September 2021: Reports by 1) Salmon and Trout Conservation, 2) a coalition of charities, including the RSPB, the National Trust and the Rivers Trust, and 3) the New Statesman – all show high levels of pollution are ending up in our rivers: Looking after our rivers | Vision Group for Sidmouth
9 September 2021: Only14% of the UK’s rivers are deemed to be in a good ecological state – so would giving them more ‘rights’ help protect them? Creating a stink on Britain’s dirty rivers | Vision Group for Sidmouth
23 July 2021: Surfers Against Sewage have witnessed the latest pollution off the Devon coast: “Raw sewage is being pumped into our waters and it’s an ongoing problem.” | Vision Group for Sidmouth
19 July 2021: There are concerns that the latest scientific studies show that “Active coronavirus has been found in faeces, so sewage discharge into rivers where people swim, especially in these hot weather conditions, is potentially lethal.”: Coronavirus in untreated sewage “can remain infectious” | Vision Group for Sidmouth
13 July 2021: The Environment Agency has just published its annual report on the water companies – and it doesn’t make very impressive reading: EA report: in the South West, only one in every five rivers support a healthy ecology | Vision Group for Sidmouth
SOUTH WEST WATER:
The region’s provider has regularly been in the national and local press:
December 2022: South West Water performance remains among worst in sector as it falls further behind targets – Exeter Observer
Ofwat attacks water firms’ lack of investment to cut sewage discharges | Water | The Guardian
November 2022: How much sewage is ending up in the Sid? part two – The Sid
Trying to get better data about discharges into our rivers – The Sid
SWW refuses local request for sewage discharge information | Sidmouth Herald
October 2022: South West Water under pressure: protests and fines – Vision Group for Sidmouth
September 2022: How much sewage is ending up in the Sid? – The Sid
August 2022: How clean are Sidmouth’s bathing waters? – Vision Group for Sidmouth
Saving water in the South West – Vision Group for Sidmouth
July 2022: SWW ‘joint worst performing water company’ – Vision Group for Sidmouth
Cutting water usage in the South West – Vision Group for Sidmouth
June 2022: Otter Valley councillor welcomes Ofwat investigation | Sidmouth Herald
Weekly column: Working together to clean up our water | Simon Jupp MP
April 2022: Pennon vows to go ahead with bill cut despite mounting energy costs – Business Live
March 2022: Sewage? You should take ‘personal responsibility’ – Radio Exe
South West Water to spend £10m on anti-pollution drive – Business Live
February 2022: FT’s ‘damning report’ on South West Water – Vision Group for Sidmouth
Reducing the amount of water we waste – Vision Group for Sidmouth
December 2021: Don’t pour cooking fat down the sink, says South West Water | Sidmouth Herald
Discharges of untreated sewage: SWW to answer questions – Vision Group for Sidmouth
South West Water (not) investing in green infrastructure – Vision Group for Sidmouth
November 2021: Will water companies now be held to account for pollution? – Vision Group for Sidmouth
October 2021: Breaking: new controls on dumping sewage – Vision Group for Sidmouth
July 2019: ‘Significant’ water pollution by South West Water – Vision Group for Sidmouth
LOCAL NEWS:
The River Sid has often been featured in the local press.
Here are a few pieces from the last decade or so.
BALSAM
- Gardeners needed for Sidmouth’s annual Balsam bashing | Sidmouth Herald (2017)
- Volunteers needed to help ‘bash the balsam’ in Sidmouth | Sidmouth Herald (2014)
DREDGING
FISHING
- A father and son and the Otter | Eat, Sleep, Fish – DEVEL (A profile of Colin Nice: 2018)
FISH LADDER
- ‘Fish ladder needed to help river’s salmon and trout’ | Sidmouth Herald (2015)
- Sidmouth fish rescue season starts | Sidmouth Herald (2011)
- Sidmouth fish release finds brown sea trout | Sidmouth Herald (2010)
FISH LADDER: EAST DEVON
FLOODING
- Flood preparation and safety – Vision Group for Sidmouth (2022)
- Sidmouth homes to be protected from flooding | Vision Group for Sidmouth (2018)
- £800k scheme to protect Sidmouth from ‘very real threat of flooding’ approved | Devon Live (2018)
- River Sid floods in The Byes Sidmouth 7th July 2012 – YouTube (2012)
FRIENDS OF THE BYES
- Sidmouth Friends of the Byes – fantastic response to anniversary month | Sidmouth Herald (2020)
- River Sid in the spring… What beauty! (2020)
- 1/3 A walk along the river… in the shade of the trees… (2019)
- BEE Project for Sidmouth gets �50k grant | Sidmouth Herald (2011)
LYME BAY
OTTERS
- Sidmouth resident catches rare footage of otter in the River Sid | Sidmouth Herald (2020)
- PHOTOS: Eagle-eyed photographer spots otter feeding near Sidmouth | East Devon News (2020)
- An otter-ly unsual sighting at River Sid | Sidmouth Herald (2014)
- Otter watch lauch at River Sid | Sidmouth Herald (2011)
POLLUTION
- Scientists from Exeter University find banned pesticides in the River Otter | Sidmouth Herald (2018)
PORT ROYAL
PROJECTS
SID VALLEY BIODIVERSITY GROUP
-
River Sid: The Shortest River in England? | Sid Valley Biodiversity Group
-
The Sid Valley Rivers Project | Sid Valley Biodiversity Group
-
River Catchment Water Quality Testing: Citizen Science Project | Sid Valley Biodiversity Group
THE RIVER SID
And here is one of our photos.
