Oxford stretch of the Thames in bid to be the second designed bathing river
Defra is consulting until 2 March on designating part of the River Thames in Oxford as a bathing water.
The Oxford Rivers Project, a partnership between Thames21, Oxford City Council, the Rivers Trust and Thames Water, has applied for Wolvercote Mill Stream at Port Meadow, to become a bathing river. This would mean the stream would be monitored by the Environment Agency throughout the bathing season for bacteria detrimental to human health, and might be expected to lead to greater investment to bring water quality up to bathing standard.
Port Meadow was the scene of a large protest in January against Thames Water’s release of sewage into the river.
The proposal was one of two new bathing water applications Defra announced last week. The other was East Cowes Esplanade on the north coast of the Isle of Wight. This followed an application from East Cowes Town Council and community volunteers, with the support of the Isle of Wight Council.
There are currently 419 designated bathing waters in England.
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