A Harrogate conservationist has called for signs to be put up urging children and dogs to avoid entering Oak Beck.

Keith Wilkinson described the situation as “desperate” after a series of incidents over the last fortnight have seen the beck turn brown.

The Environment Agency said last week it was “investigating the possible source of the pollution” after receiving “a number of reports of discoloured water”.

But after a brief recovery, the beck was heavily discoloured again today.

Oak Beck in Jennyfields this morning

Mr Wilkinson, who is honorary secretary of Bilton Conservation Group and chairman of the Nidd Gorge Advisory Partnership, said:

“The Oak Beck situation is desperate with daily pollution events for two weeks now — sand and silt from construction work, solids escaping from the open storm drain near The Hydro and a constant stream of what looks like detergent foam from high up near Birk Crag.

“It is totally unacceptable. Signs are needed urgently to warn children and dogs to keep out of the water.”

A conservationist has warned that Harrogate’s “creaking sewerage infrastructure” needs investment to cope with all the new homes.

Keith Wilkinson, who is chairman of Nidd Gorge Advisory Partnership and honorary secretary of Bilton Conservation Group, said more pollution was likely without improvements.

His comments come as investigations into last weekend’s pollution of Oak Beck are ongoing.

The Environment Agency, which previously said it was unable to comment during the Queen’s mourning period, gave a brief update today in which it said it had investigated “several” reports of dead fish and pollution and it was “identifying the source of what caused the fish deaths”.

Oak Beck, which rises at Haverah Park and empties into the River Nidd at Nidd Gorge, is classed as a main river by the Environment Agency even though it is narrow.

Oak Beck looking discoloured this week.

Mr Wilkinson said long-recognised problems with broken and wrongly connected Victorian pipes near The Hydro remained unresolved.

This, along with new housing developments in the area, would exacerbate the issue further, he said.

Mr Wilkinson said:

“North Harrogate’s sewerage system has been operating on optimum-to-overload capacity for at least a decade — before we see the aggravating grey water outputs of the excessive housing expansion on the A59 and Penny Pot Lane.

“In other words ‘we ain’t seen nothing yet’.”

Mr Wilkinson, who was awarded an MBE for services to conservation, also said he wasn’t aware of any plans to develop the northern outfall sewage works at Bilton to cope with the anticipated increase of sewage caused by new homes. He added:

“Their site has many spare acres of unused land — it occupies 56 acres in total — but I detect no suggestion that there will be significant investment in new infrastructure to increase its capacity to receive and process more inputs.”

Oak Beck fish deaths still a mystery

Contaminated water on Oak Beck stretched from The Hydro to Bilton this week. Mr Wilkinson said the watercourse would take three years to recover.

A Yorkshire Water spokesman said yesterday it was “still on site, trying to investigate possible sources” of the contamination. He added initial tests had shown the cause was not sewage.

Read more:

• ‘Hundreds’ of fish killed by pollution on Harrogate’s Oak Beck
• Oak Beck will take three years to recover from pollution, says Harrogate conservationist

Northern Gas Networks said the pollution is unconnected to work it is carrying out on the site earmarked for a new Tesco.

Mark Johnson, senior project manager at NGN, said:

“We’re currently undertaking work to safely dismantle the gas holder on Skipton Road and all of our discharge takes place into the main sewerage system, as is required.

“Following reports of a possible contamination at Oak Beck, we’ve been liaising closely with the Environment Agency and Yorkshire Water, both of whom have confirmed that there is no connection with our work. We will continue to monitor the situation closely.”

A leading Harrogate conservationist has said Oak Beck will take three years to recover from this week’s pollution.

Hundreds of fish are believed to have died when the water turned brown over the weekend. The cause is unknown.

Keith Wilkinson has called on Yorkshire Water and the Environment Agency to join efforts to prevent further pollutions in the beck, which he said occur too frequently.

He said:

“Pollution events along the Oak Beck — which is classed as a ‘main river’ by the Environment Agency — destroy wildlife and have implications for public health.

“As chairman of the Nidd Gorge Advisory Partnership I would like to invite representatives from the EA and Yorkshire Water to join the partnership and coordinate efforts to eliminate illegal discharges along the Oak Beck and the River Nidd.

“One toxic spill such as that experienced on 10th September sets back all our conservation efforts for at least three years.”

Oak Beck looking discoloured.

Read more:

• Hundreds of fish killed by pollution on Harrogate’s Oak Beck
• Meeting called to hear concerns about state of River Nidd

Oak Beck rises at Haverah Park and empties into the River Nidd at Nidd Gorge.

Dead fish were first spotted in the watercourse at Oak Beck retail park this morning.

The discolouration appears to have affected the stretch from the Hydro to the far side of Knox Lane.

The Stray Ferret met Mr Wilkinson, who is also honorary secretary of Bilton Conservation Group, at Spruisty Bridge on Knox Lane today.

A dead brown trout in Oak Beck today.

Several residents told us they were concerned about the pollution and how seriously it was being investigated.

One person said dog walkers had been keeping their pets on leads to prevent them entering the water. There have also been reports of dead ducks but none were evident during our visit.

Harmful discharges

Mr Wilkinson said a good year for spawning fish on the beck had been ruined.

He said water quality often suffered from the impact of the number of new homes built, as well as harmful discharges entering the drains.

The beck contains brown trout up to several inches long, as well as minnows, bullhead, stone loach and sticklebacks.

Mr Wilkinson said invertebrates on the bed of the beck were also killed and their numbers needed to recover before fish levels could return to normal.

He added that kingfishers and otters had kept away from the river since the incident.

An Environment Agency spokeswoman said yesterday she was unable to comment on what, if any, action it had taken because it was not responding to media inquiries about non life-threatening incidents during the Queen’s mourning period.

A Yorkshire Water spokesperson said yesterday:

“Our teams, along with the Environment Agency, have conducted initial investigations after reports of a pollution at Oak Beck over the weekend.

“Our tests have indicated the substance entering the beck is not sewage. We are continuing to investigate and will also be visiting local businesses to try and trace the source.”