Responding to the news that the River Thames at Ham and Kingston is one of 13 new proposed bathing water spots in England, Munira said:
“I am absolutely delighted that the River Thames at Ham and Kingston is being considered as one the first-ever designated bathing spots in London, because everyone deserves to swim, paddle and row in clean, healthy water.”
“With the Government acknowledging the need to improve water quality, I hope they will also heed my and campaigners’ calls to scrap Thames Water’s proposals to pump treated effluent into the river Thames at Teddington – plans that are fundamentally incompatible with improving water quality along our precious stretch of the River Thames.”
Thames Water’s Teddington Direct River Abstraction (TDRA) proposals would replace river water with treated sewage at Teddington Lock. Munira, residents and local campaigners are concerned about the environmental impact of these proposals, including on human health, biodiversity, wildlife and water quality.
The River Thames in Teddington, in Munira’s constituency, had the sixth greatest concentration of toxic Per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) in the UK between 2019-2022 (eleven times above safe levels set out by the EU).
You can read Munira’s letter in support of the campaign for bathing water status at Ham and Kingston here.