Feargal Sharkey Praises 'Heroic' River Brent Campaigners

Says authorities 'poisoning our rivers by incompetence'

Feargal Sharkey being interview by the River Brent. Picture: CURB

December 20, 2024

Rock star and waterways campaigner, Feargal Sharkey, has praised local environmental campaigners during a visit to the River Brent.

He was in the area to highlight the issue of misconnected sewers in which housing developments are pumping water straight from domestic toilets into rivers including two in the Brent.

He criticised house builders, local councils and Thames Water and over their lack of action on the issue.

He carried out tests near one of the sewage outflows which showed the River Brent to have one of the highest E Coli levels of any of the rivers he has investigated. His report and comments were aired in his weekly slot on LBC.

The pollution from housing came to light when an Environmental Information Request by the environmental charity Friends of the River Crane Environment (FORCE) revealed that seven housing developments (around 100 homes) are discharging all their sewage directly into tributaries of the River Thames. All the estates were built without connections to an appropriate sewer and so are flushing their toilets and other foul water straight into the rivers Brent and Crane in West London.

He was shown around the River Brent by Ben Morris, a Trustee of the Brent River Park Charity and founder of the Clean Up the River Brent campaign (CURB).

Speaking from the banks of the Brent, the clean water campaigner described the work of CURB as ‘heroic’, slammed ‘dodgy builders’ for installing the misconnected foul water pipes and criticised the regulatory authorities for their inaction.

He said, “Nobody seems to be doing their job, from the building inspectors to the water companies, to the local councils. Everyone sits back, passes the buck, passes the blame and, while this indecision is going on, the rivers in the very heart of our capital city are being poisoned by incompetence. Those that are doing it, stop it. Those that are there to safeguard this environment - the councils, the Environment Agency, OFWAT - go and do your job.”

His comments were echoed by Ben Morris who pointed out that much of the problem is due to a lack of clarity about which organisation is responsible for the prevention of such developments and the enforcement against them when they happen.

He commented, “The whole situation is beautifully constructed for buck passing. The councils, the Environment Agency and Thames Water all have the legal powers to take action against the developers but none of these authorities is legally obliged to do so. Therefore, for the most part, they don’t.

“What is needed is one organisation to be given the statutory duty and the enforcement powers to stop this sort of thing happening in the first place. Until this is done, it will continue to be possible to build and sell properties that flush sewage straight into our rivers, killing wildlife and turning healthy rivers into disgusting drains."

Feargal Sharkey with Ben Morris by the River Brent. Picture: CURB

The Brent River Park Charity and the Friends of the River Crane are calling on Barnet, Harrow and Ealing Councils, the Environment Agency, Thames Water, the Greater London Authority and the developers to work together to resolve the problems at these and other similar developments. In the longer term, they say this requires tougher legislation to ensure that all water connections are properly inspected and that those developers who connect foul water pipes to rivers are called to account.

Thames Water has not responded to requests for comment on the issue.

The Brent River Park charity, through its Clean Up The River Brent campaign (CURB), says will maintain its campaign on this issue and will continue its Environment Agency sponsored work to monitor pollution in the River Brent.

For more information on CURB, and to volunteer, visit its page on the Brent River Park website, heck out their Just Giving Page raising funds for quality water pollution testing and follow them on Twitter / X @BrentPollution, or join them on Facebook at CURB – Clean Up the River Brent.