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10
Nov 2022
Parliament debates bathing water status for River Nidd at Knaresborough
The possibility of the River Nidd at Knaresborough achieving bathing water status has been debated in Parliament.
Harrogate and Knaresborough MP Andrew Jones secured the adjournment debate for the topic last night.
The Conservative told the house he wanted to achieve the status for the area at the Lido Leisure Park, which could become one of just a handful of rivers in the country to have it. He said:
Mr Jones posted this picture with Frank Maguire, owner of the lido caravan park, on his website.
Mr Jones recently visited the 550-home lido, which is the focus of his campaign.
He told Parliament the recently-passed Environment Act would help progress measures to improve water quality by requiring combined sewer overflows (CSOs) to be monitored all the time. This would show how often and how much sewage was discharged into rivers including the Nidd.
In response, Trudy Harrison, parliamentary under-secretary for environment, food and rural affairs, said:
Read more:
- Campaign launched to achieve bathing water status on River Nidd
- Meeting called to hear concerns about state of River Nidd
Speaking to today's meeting of North Yorkshire County Council's Harrogate and Knaresborough Area Constituency Committee, Mr Jones said he had contacted numerous local organisations about the river.
He said the owners of the lido, as well as landowners along the river, the Nidd Catchment Angling group, and wild swimming groups had all been contacted to ask for their support.
However, Liberal Democrats questioned why Mr Jones had not spoken to the area constituency committee, when they had raised the issue at a previous meeting and had been working with local volunteers to make progress.
Cllr Hannah Gostlow, who represents Knaresborough East, said:
Mr Jones said he recognised it was a team effort and would require the involvement of both local and national government, as well as community groups and businesses.
However, he said the area constituency committee had not contacted him about its plans, so he had been "getting on with it".
He added:
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