Rishi Sunak has given his support to a campaign to get a popular stretch of the River Swale designated as safe for bathing.

The Richmond and Northallerton MP has written to Minister for Water and Flooding, Emma Hardy, to back an application being prepared by the Save Our Swale (SOS) group.

SOS wants 50m of the river upstream from Richmond Falls to be given designated bathing water Status by the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra).

The bid comes amid concerns about pollution in the River Swale and discharges from Yorkshire Water’s Richmond Sewage Treatment Works.
The designation would mean that the Environment Agency had to regularly test the river water quality for bacteria between May 15 and September 30.

The site would then be given a classification of ‘excellent’, ‘good’, ‘sufficient’, or ‘poor’, and North Yorkshire Council would have to display this information to allow the public to make an informed decision about using the river.  If the water quality was classified as poor or sufficient, officials would have to investigate pollution sources and take steps to improve the water quality.

The MP said in his response to the group that he hoped Defra would look favourably on the application.  He added: “I know that there has been much time and effort expended in putting this application together and I know that enhancing people’s enjoyment of and access to the Swale would bring great benefits to people and also to the wider local economy.”
SOS welcomed the MP’s support.

A spokesperson added: “This now means that through our campaign and as a result of our consultation we have secured support from our MP, Rishi Sunak, the leader of North Yorkshire Council, Councillor Carl Les OBE, the chief executive of the council, Richard Flinton and Richmond Town Council, as well as many businesses, riverside landowners and residents of Richmond who use the river for recreation.

“As a result, we can confidently say that there is a lot of support to have designated bathing water status for the stretch of river above the Fosse at Richmond.”

SOS said its completed application would be submitted by the end of the month.