I believe that our rivers are more than just waterways - they are lifelines, sustaining biodiversity and connecting communities. Our cherished rivers face an unprecedented crisis. Once full of life, they are now in severe decline. Nowhere is more vulnerable than the Forest of Dean, at the “bottom end” of the great rivers, the Wye and the Severn. I know that many of you have seen the change with your own eyes. Once-clear waters are now clouded with green slime. Fish stocks are dwindling and birdlife disappearing. It’s heartbreaking and entirely preventable.

Over the past decade, the number of birds housed in poultry units along the length of the River Wye has almost doubled from 13 to 23 million birds. These industrial-scale farms produce staggering amounts of waste, much of which is spread on nearby fields, from where it makes its way into the soil and runs off into our rivers after heavy rainfall. As a result, our rivers are slowly suffocating, threatening their biodiversity and our public health.

Like so many campaigning on their behalf, we could no longer remain silent in the face of our rivers’ decline. Accordingly, the Forest of Dean District Council unanimously passed a “Motion for Rivers and Ocean” in May 2024, after which councillors from across the political spectrum formed the “Water Improvement Group” (WIG), recognising that only by working together can we achieve the change we need.

Following similar action we took in response to intensive poultry units (IPUs) planned in the upper reaches of the Severn in Shropshire, the Council has recently written to the Minister of Environment for Wales, urging an immediate halt to several planning applications for IPUs in the upper Wye. In our letter, we laid out our concerns detailing the impact on our natural resources and calling for stronger regulations on waste management and runoff. And most importantly, we urged the Welsh Government to treat the River Wye not as a resource to be exploited, but as a living ecosystem deserving of protection. We have also written about this to the Welsh Commissioner for Future Generations, whose unique role is to advise on sustainable development and to take the longer view on policy decisions.

The WIG works alongside organisations such as the Environment Agency and Wildlife Trusts and with our wonderful local causes such as Save the Wye. We also work with other local authorities (over twenty of which up and down the country have already passed similar motions) to generate ideas and drive actions to clean our rivers. It’s encouraging to see major flagship projects now underway with the Environment Agency, the Wildlife and River Trusts working across our three catchments, the Severn, Wye and the Leadon; the ‘Forest to Sea’ and the ‘Wilder Leadon’ projects.

Writing to the Minister and challenging the decisions of colleagues in neighbouring councils may seem small acts, but they are powerful. They are ways to remind everybody that behind policies and planning applications there are real people, real places and real consequences.