Fish Legal Calls MSA Supporters to Urge New Government to Act Now

In England only 16% of waterbodies – that’s 14% of rivers – are in good overall health, with no improvement for a decade.  The new Government has pledged to clean up rivers, lakes and seas and to restore nature. 

To meet its legally binding targets for water and river health it must ACT NOW. Fish Legal are calling Missing Salmon Alliance supporters to urge this by signing a petition…

Why hasn’t there been more progress with improving the health of rivers and lakes?

The previous Government got it wrong.  We exposed that by taking them to court.

In 2023, Fish Legal won a ground-breaking judicial review with a group of Yorkshire anglers - the Pickering Fishery Association - against the previous Government for misunderstanding and misapplying the law underlying its nationwide River Basin Management Plans. 

These national plans should have set out how the Government is going to restore every single river and lake to good health to meet legally binding targets under the Water Framework Directive by 2027.  

But in our test case, the Court found for the Pickering anglers that the previous Government’s plans were unlawful.  That case set a precedent for the whole country.

What needs to happen?

This Government needs to re-do the River Basin Management Plans it inherited.  The previous ones were so vague and missing real, on-the-ground action that they are virtually useless.  They are, in effect, plans to fail.

There are 4,929 waterbodies in England.  DEFRA and the Environment Agency need to come up with specific measures for all of them to meet environmental objectives for every single one.  

The Office of Environmental Protection Agrees 

After our win in the High Court, the Government’s own watchdog the Office for Environmental Protection (OEP) published a report agreeing with the ruling in our court case.  

The OEP has recommended to Government that its River Basin Management Plans should have “specific, time-bound, committed and resourced measures to effectively address identified impacts such as long-term pollution.”

Our Pickering Judgment is used as the example of the outgoing Government’s systematic failure to turn around river health in this country.

The Appeal

Before the election, the last Government lodged an appeal in an attempt to overturn our 2023 High Court ruling because of its widespread implications for every watercourse in the country.

This Government can choose whether it goes on to defend previous failures to restore rivers and lakes across the country or whether it changes course.

This is a test case.  It is a test for the new Government on its pledges to clean up rivers, lakes and seas and restore nature.  It has until 14 and 15 January 2025 to decide.  That’s the date that we are due to face the new Secretary of State in the Court of Appeal. 

What’s happening in the rest of the UK?

The devolved Governments are watching this case carefully because the authorities in Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland should also have River Basin Management Plans that set out how they will meet their legally binding targets for water by 2027.

This is the leading case that will determine whether action is now taken on rivers and lakes across the UK.

What can you do?

Sign.  

Together we need to send a message to this new Government that is has to ACT NOW to restore every single waterbody to good health by 2027. That’s the deadline.   It can’t be put off or pushed back.  There’s no time to waste.  

This Government needs to reverse the previous failures… because Every River Counts.