Extinction Rebellion will be staging a water pollution protest at various spots across Oxford.

The campaign group will be holding its ‘dirty water wave 4 – water pollution, a hazard to our health’ protest this Saturday (August 5).

Meets will be held from 12pm to 2pm at Cornmarket Street, 3pm to 6pm at Medley Bridge and 3pm to 6pm at Donnington Bridge.

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A spokesperson for Extinction Rebellion said: “In this 4th wave of the dirty water campaign we will be reaching out to the public in central Oxford seeking support in the campaign against water companies that continue to pump raw sewage into our rivers.

“Join protesters, XR Rhythms and singers as we engage with the public, pass out leaflets, give warnings about the health risks of our polluted waterways, recruit new supporters and challenge Thames Water to clean up their act.

“Then, we will take the protest directly to the River Thames and continue the protest.

“Members of the Canaries Affinity Group and supporters will leave Cornmarket at 2pm and march to the Rainbow Bridge on Port Meadow where they will hang banners.

“Members of the Geese, Rusty Bikes and Headington Fringe Affinity Groups and their supporters will head to Donnington Bridge where they will hang a ‘Sun, Swim and Sewage’ banner.

“Please join one of these protesting groups at these important sites on the River Thames.

“Cornmarket has good accessibility. Port Meadow and Donnington Bridge (and Towpath) are accessed using some untarmacked paths and steep concrete ramps are used to reach the towpath.”

A Thames Water spokesperson said: “Taking action to improve the health of rivers is a key focus for us and we have planned investment in our local sewage treatment works to reduce the need for untreated discharges, such as the major £17million expansion at Witney, which is expected to be completed in early 2024.

"Further upgrades across our region include our sites at Fairford, Marlborough, Hungerford and Mogden.

“We regard all discharge of untreated sewage as unacceptable, and it’s understandable why the public are demanding more from water companies to do better.  

"As a member of the Oxford Rivers Project, who made the application for designated bathing water status at Wolvercote Mill Stream, we’ll continue to work with our partners to understand what more needs to be done to ensure consistently good water quality in the Thames.

“At the beginning of the year we published an online map providing close to real-time information about storm discharges from all of our 468 permitted locations and this continues to be updated with information on improvements being planned for more than 250 sites across our region.

““In addition, The Tideway Tunnel, which will be completed by 2025, at a total investment of more than £4bn, is designed to dramatically improve the water quality of the River Thames by capturing around 95% of sewage overflows.

“Stopping discharges altogether will take time and sustained investment, however each step we take on this journey is a move in the right direction.”

 

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This story was written by Matthew Norman, he joined the team in 2022 as a Facebook community reporter.

Matthew covers Bicester and focuses on finding stories from diverse communities.

Get in touch with him by emailing: Matthew.norman@newsquest.co.uk

Follow him on Twitter: @OxMailMattN1