UK nature rights groups conference in Cambridge calls Cam a ‘close-to-dead’ river

The Cam is a “close-to-dead river” and a “polluted brown, soupy, mess”, an all-day conference in Cambridge on the increasingly embattled state of nature in the UK was told.

Discussing what citizens could or should be doing about it, the event attracted delegates from across the UK to St Luke’s Church on Victoria Road.

Titled ‘A Meeting of Rivers: Exploring the Rights of Nature in the UK’, representatives included river rights groups including for the Ouse, Dart, Dôn, Medway, Plym, Exe, and Derwent.

Hosted by Friends of the River Cam, talks began with organiser Neil W Williams, a lecturer in ethics and philosophy at the University of Southampton, on the core concepts of the rights of nature and the national rights of nature movement. He was followed by Jérémie Gilbert, a professor of human rights law at the University of Roehampton, on the rights of nature movement globally.

Terry Macalister, of Friends of the Cam, highlighted the similarities that river groups around the country face.

“Privatised water companies use the waterways for commercial abstraction and sewage disposal,” he told the audience of around 50.

“They are legally set up – like most businesses – to extract profits, not prioritise people or environment.

“They are meant to be monitored by regulators like Ofwat and the Environment Agency but these groups know successive governments – especially Tory ones – give primacy to business not public interests so regulation is not enforced and is weakened by funding shortages.

“This is the same pattern for other privatised utilities: the railways, the energy sector, telecoms etc, where companies have fallen into the hands of often foreign-based private equity firms, land has been sold off, excess value has scraped out and given to shareholders, and investment curtailed.”

However, the author and former Guardian energy editor said Cambridge is different because its economic success is a story with which successive governments have been anxious to be associated.

“The local economy is growing faster than China and land prices have soared, bringing huge benefits to landowners, primarily the University of Cambridge,” said Terry, adding: “The population of Cambridge city has grown by 25,000 in the last two decades to 150,000.”

The increasing demand for water has meant that “precious local chalk streams have been trashed by over-abstraction and sewage dumping”.

The days of punting on a glorious river are “a mirage”, he said, adding: “The Cam is often a health hazard, a dangerously polluted brown, soupy, mess, a close-to-dead river which barely flows and is kept alive not from its wonderful chalk stream sources but by shallow ground water being pumped into it from water company bore holes. We demand reality not romance: the river must get rights to live and flourish.”

The last speaker before lunch was provided by Arjuna was Sue Willman, an environmental and human rights lawyer at King’s College, London. She developed the King's Human Rights and Environment Legal Clinic Toolkit to promote access to justice by demystifying the laws regulating water pollution.

Sue discussed the recent oath sworn in court on a glass of river water – a legal first achieved by sometime Friends of the Cam guest Paul Powlesland – plus the challenges of setting out an entirely new ethical landscape. “Do the rights of beavers overrule human rights?” she mused.

She also pointed out that protest works.

“As a campaign lawyer I’ve lost a lot of cases but it’s worth bringing them because some which are unlikely to succeed can have more impact.”

The afternoon sessions offered a chance for river advocates across the UK to connect and exchange information and best practice. Attendees divided into two groups: one discussed what rights a river should have, the other looked to develop a viable approach to water companies.

This second group, chaired by Cambridge-based environmentalist Wendy Blythe, a founding member of the Friends of the Cam, comprised seven delegates from Bristol, Devon and Cambridge.

Hannah, who lives near the River Plym in Plymouth, said she had been on a steep learning curve with South West Water.

“I want to learn ways I could work with water companies because we were constantly being thrown back – we couldn’t get our foot in the door,” she said.

The delegates also included Loris, “a genuinely interested but non-affiliated environmentalist”, Severine, a member of the Friends of the River Exe, Frances, a sociology student at Anglia Ruskin University, Helga, a lecturer in law at the University of Cambridge, and Scott, a member of Derbyshire Wildlife Trust.

Wendy asked whether water companies should be renationalised.

“Yes, but it won’t change things,” said Severine. “One of the worst polluters is Welsh Water, which has no shareholders.”

Welsh Water is owned by Glas Cymru, a single purpose company with no shareholders run solely for the benefit of customers.

“It’s easy to blame the water companies, but in Cardiff people chuck all kinds of things they shouldn’t into their toilets. We need a more relational view.”

“Agricultural pollution is a secondary contributor, as well as the water companies,” added Scott.

Wendy asked if we should we take money from the water companies for projects – Cambridge Water’s PEBBLE fund helps rebuild chalk streams and clean up waterways – or is that greenwashing?

“There’s definitely a feeling the water companies have been allowed to have their cake and eat it several times over,” replied Severine. “Water is classified as an essential service but the water companies operate in a very weak regulatory system – Ofwat. We need to rethink the rules so they work for everybody.”

“Forcing water companies to respect existing regulations would be a good place to start,” said Scott. “The water companies should be made to give something back, but to always see them as the baddies is not constructive.”

A spokesperson for South West Water said: “As part of our Stakeholder Engagement Programme, we carry out presentations and workshops through our ‘Let’s talk Water’ Stakeholder Forum, a bi-monthly event.

“The Forum and our other engagement programmes have allowed us to work with key environmental groups and organisations in our region over the last two years, including a local river and estuary groups.”

After the discussion, Friends of the Cam led the delegates on a lively walk along the Cam, which included singing, reading the declaration of the rights of the River Cam, and learning more about the ecological pressures on the River.

Convenor Neil Williams said: “This workshop was the first in a series, put on as part of the ‘A Meeting of Rivers’ project, funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council.

“The project explores the growing ‘rights of rivers’ movement in the UK and aims to bring together different river groups independently fighting for the rights and restoration of their rivers, for communication and potential collaboration.

“Each of the events is hosted by a prominent UK river group fighting for the rights of their rivers, and this first event was graciously hosted by Friends of the River Cam. The workshop was a great success.”