March 2026 Newsletter
Dear Friends, Followers and Supporters. The
magnolia has come out with sun and not a moment too soon! With the recent high tides the estuary is at its most picturesque.
There’s been a lot going on at The Cleddau Project.
Petition to Pembrokeshire County Council
James Harrison-Allen started a petition in December, calling on Pembrokeshire County Council to create and enact a Clean Rivers Policy to restore the Cleddau to good health. It turned out to be the biggest petition ever submitted to PCC and went to a full council meeting on 5th March. The public gallery was rammed with supporters and the atmosphere in the room was palpable. James delivered a punchy critique of the state of the Cleddau and the council’s lack of engagement to date. His opening speech struck a powerful note. Deputy leader, Cllr Paul Miller, listed various ongoing river-related initiatives currently undertaken by PCC and stated that PCC is absolutely committed to playing a full part in efforts to improve the health of the Cleddau: ”we’ve got a part to play”. There followed contributions from councillors, all building a sense that things have to change and PCC needs to get more involved. Jayne and Caitlin Etherington’s powerful story of e coli poisoning was read out and introduced a sobering note to the session. NRW came in for much criticism, as did Welsh Water, but this petition demands that PCC drives the cultural change required to champion the Cleddau directly from County Hall.
There was a unanimous vote to take the Cleddau issue to the Overview and Scrutiny Committee meeting in June to review what’s already happening and to consider how PCC can scale up their involvement. James has been invited to contribute to this. It’s a first step and TCP must ensure that the outrage expressed in the Chamber results in actions. Thank you to everyone for making this happen.
Education and Community
The ‘My River’ project has received some fresh funding from the Bluestone Foundation to develop a cluster training model for all schools. The fund will be used to design a training package around My River for staff to take into their own classrooms. Meanwhile the work carries on with 3 schools visited this term to deliver ‘My River’ introductory workshops with 5 additional schools lined up for the summer term.
CCAP Report
The long awaited Cleddau Catchment Assessment Project (CCAP-2) report, based on 12 months’ worth of water quality data collected by 90 volunteers in over 40 sites across the Cleddau Catchment, has been delivered by Paul Withers of Lancaster University. The report findings will be presented to all the participating volunteers by Paul – in person – in early May (date tbc). It will also be sent out to a targeted selection of stakeholders, NRW, Welsh Government and other interested parties. The initiative will also be used as an exemplar to other Citizen Science groups concerned with water quality.
Water Testing & Riverfly
A slimmed down version of CCAP-2 continues apace with a smaller team of surveyors testing water quality with the addition – in April – of riverfly testing. The data collected over time will show a wider picture of the general health of the Cleddau.
We are extremely grateful to Ian Brown who has kindly offered to take over the day to day running of TCP’s citizen science initiatives. As well as organising training sessions and answering questions, he will keep our volunteers abreast of what is going on on a regular basis. Thank you, Ian!
NRW Rapid Response Teams
Too many of us are seeing serious, acute pollution events in our streams, most of which drain into the Cleddau. Everyone appreciates the importance of reporting these to NRW but few of us are confident that they will be responded to in a timely fashion, if at all. The idea of the rapid response teams is that a small of group of volunteers will make haste to the pollution site reported and test the water to submit to NRW as back up evidence. A few representatives from TCP are having ongoing discussions with NRW around the concept. This is still work in progress but we hope it will make a meaningful difference to how NRW responds to serious pollution events reported by TCP.
Senedd Elections
TCP has sent its manifesto of election asks to the majority of candidates in Pembrokeshire and Ceredigion. A meeting of TCP representatives with 3 Plaid Cymru candidates (Elin Jones (1), Kerry Ferguson (2) and Cris Tomos (4), took place in early March. A meeting has also taken place with Marc Tierney (Labour). One or two candidates are starting to talk publicly about water quality on their social media platforms; mmm … we shall see! TCP has been invited to take part in a pop-up event at the Senedd in early July.
Events
The Tir A Mor Festival will take place in and around St David’s over the weekend of 28th/29th March. Based at Oriel Y Parc, this year’s theme is Rivers. TCP, Save the Teifi and West Wales Rivers Trust will be stationed in the Discovery Room from 10.00-12.00 on Sunday 29th March with props and visuals, on hand to talk to passers-by about the work we’re doing, how to run a river campaign group etc. Please come to support!
The second River Festival will take place along the quayside and up through the centre of Haverfordwest on 13th June. This will coincide with the return of the Dale to Haverfordwest Longboat Race after a break of 12 years! With food, music, art, talks and displays, it’s hoped that this will become an annual event highlighting the historical, cultural and environmental significance of the Cleddau which is – or should be – central to our county town.
Welsh Government Green Paper
In the wake of the Cunliffe Review, Welsh Government (WG) published a Green Paper on 3rd February. The paper outlines reforms for water governance focusing on long-term sustainability and the creation of a new independent water regulator for Wales. WG describes the paper as a once in a generation opportunity to shape the future of water governance in Wales. The consultation closes on 7th April. You can respond to it here: Welsh Government Green Paper
NRW Challenges and Choices
NRW is running a Challenges and Choices consultation to shape future water management plans which address pollution, climate change and biodiversity loss. Public input is sought to identify actions for improving water quality in West Wales and the Dee River Basin. The closing date is 21st April. You can read all about it here: NRW Challenges & Choices
As always, thank you to everyone who has given hours of volunteering time, ‘joined us’ via our website and followed us on facebook and Instagram. Your ideas, experience, expertise and offers of help are always welcome! Please contact us at info@thecleddauproject.org.uk.