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Yorkshire Water promises a solution for Ilkley this year
At the Ilkley Town Meeting on Thursday night 70 residents met with Yorkshire Water, the Environment Agency, Robbie Moore MP and Ilkley Town Mayor, Mark Stidworthy, to secure a solution to the problem of raw sewage discharges into the Wharfe.
At the meeting, held at Ilkley Grammar School, Yorkshire Water announced that rather than waiting 10 years to sort out the problem of excessive sewage discharges into the river, as set out by the Environment Agency; they will bring the investigation and solution finding through to this year with subsequent investment in cleaning up the water in Ilkley. They will not be bound by the EAs timescales but will act as quickly as they can.
This commitment is a significant step to a better environment for both the ecology of the water and for our children to paddle, play and swim in the river, and for people to picnic by the river without fear of pollution and public health hazards.
A spokesperson for The Clean River Group said: ‘we are delighted with the announcement and look forward to seeing the imaginative , future facing solution to providing clean water in Ilkley that will withstand climate change and population growth.’
The group will make a film of the meeting will be available in the next few days.
Ilkley is still waiting for Defra to undertake its consultation on the Towns Bathing Water Status Application, and hopes for a decision in May 2020.
The Clean River Citizen Science testing will continue covering the Wharfe from the source to beyond York to catalyse a whole river clean up as the next step so everyone can enjoy clean river water.
