One of the most beautiful parts of Great Ayton is the river bank, with the River Leven snaking down from the Cleveland Hills, through the village and onwards to Stokesley and beyond.
Many of us have spent hours by the banks and enjoyed watching our children play in the water, catching fish and splashing about.
Sadly, they are about as likely to catch E. coli as they are to catch a fish and the health of the Leven seems to be plummeting.
In addition to potential pollution from farm field runoff, there are points of raw sewage discharge direct into the river. Some occur upstream from Great Ayton, some foul drainage happens at the bridge near Suggitt’s, from poorly designed local housing developments in the 60’s, and some occurs downstream from Angrove.
You can see the amount of sewage being dumped into the river by Northumbrian Water, using this link. The Rivers Trust keeps data on sewage dumping both in fresh and saltwater – something that the water companies pay lip service to intermittently (when they have to).
They are officially allowed to dump untreated sewage when heavy rain overwhelms the system but we wonder if their definition of heavy rain is something just past a light drizzle.
We have submitted a FOI request to Northumbrian Water to see just the extent of the problem locally, and will post their response here.
Beyond the sewage releases, I think we can all agree that a cloudy brown river, with a silted, plant-free river bed, and regular sightings of river “scum”, are not the signs of a healthy river.
What can we do?
Upstream of the waterfall in the village, the responsibility for the river falls on the “riparian” owners – basically, people living by the river.
We would argue that, if our houses, via a poorly resourced sewrage and sewage system, are dumping untreated human waste into the river, then we are all riparian owners, but here are a few steps you can take.
- You can contact the local council via this link, and ask them what their plans are to monitor the water quality, put pressure on Northumbrian Water and the Environment Agency and generally improve the state of the river
- You can contact Northumbrian Water to ask them what they are doing to address the issues raised above
- You can write to your MP, Rishi Sunak, to let him know you are concerned about the health of the river, and the safety of the people who play in it. You could ask him what checks are made on water quality and what pressure can be put on water companies to improve.
Upstream, we want to look at factors that might influence water quality from the farmland that the river runs through. We would like to try and understand whether there are farming practices that are having a negative impact – fertiliser use, soil erosion into the river course etc. – and how this might be improved.
We also want to find out if there is anything that we can do to improve the planting around the river, or even in the river itself, to help soak up pollution and provide a better balance for the animals that live in, on and around the river.
We would like to work with the Environment Agency to reduce unecessary cutting near the river, and gradually change the river bank from grass monoculture, into an more diverse, natural habit with a mix of grasses and flowers that we can all enjoy.
The photo above was taken in May 2022, and shows grass cutting on both sides of the Leven for a purpose that we are yet to understand. It surely can’t be the purpose of the EA to cut down flowers for pollinators and leave a barren patch of grass stalks in its place.
We would also like to organise litter picks along, and in, the river, so we can all start to feel more ownership of the river banks, and share some responsibility for keeping it healthy.
We know the Friend of the Leven have done a lot of work already, and plans are in place for a project with the Tees Valley Wildlife Trust as well. The Council have developed a wildflower meadow near the river, in the new flood alleviation scheme, and this is certainly an excellent place to start.
Useful links
WildAyton.uk 