Main image: Dana Assinder

Lower Char Community Project CAMPAIGN 2023


1. River Water Campaign – to clean up our river…
We call on Wessex Water to:
  • Take urgent action to stop all sewage discharges at Newlands Bridge (recently 8-12 per year)
  • Work with Newlands Holiday Park and houses on Stonebarrow Lane to • seal any defective drains and • stop rainwater from roofs, roads and hard standing entering the sewer network.
  • Install 6mm screens at Newlands Bridge – as a temporary measure.
We call on the Environment Agency to:
  • Start monitoring water quality again at the mouth of the River Char.

2. Coastal Waters – to clean up our beach and sea…
We call on Wessex Water to:
  • Cut discharges of untreated sewage into the sea to less than 10 per year and 3 per bathing season. [These happen about 70 times a year into the sea, with no pollution alert required.]
We call on the Environment Agency to:
  • Enforce the requirement for no storm discharges at Newlands Bridge
  • Extend its definition of ‘Bathing season’ beyond May-Sept and reclassify discharges from the Long Sea Outfall as “high priority”.
We call on South West Water to:
  • Clean up its plastic biobeads, which are littering Charmouth Beach.
To help make this happen, we will film the plume of untreated sewage pouring from the offshore pipe and work with South West Water to implement its agreed beach clean-up strategy.

3. Other Sea and River Issues – we will also campaign on 3 issues:
  • Climate-led Sea Level Rise: we will press for full information on Wessex Water’s strategy.
  • Sewage Spills: we will work with Wessex Water to get complete, accurate, real-time data.
  • Community Projects: we will seek funding to help residents use water butts and other water-saving techniques to reduce the amount of rainwater entering the combined sewer.

CAMPAIGN EVENTS
We are hosting the Charmouth Dragon River Festival on 27th May, 2023, with a day of activities and planning for residents on Saturday 18th February, 2023.

To support our campaign, please join us (it's free) and please join our River Dragon Festival on 27th May in Charmouth.
Read our Summary campaign and Campaign details.