It was fantastic to host the Chalk Stream Summit today, with Rt Hon Rebecca Pow as Minister leading the call to action. The conference was attended by 150 key people, including a large contingent from both houses in Westminster, the CEO and Senior Directors from across the Water Industry, as well as key delivery partners like the Chilterns Conservation Board. The panel and speakers all acknowledged the step change needed to solve the over abstraction, pollution and waste.
Tom Beeston our Chief Officer, summed it up afterwards by saying:
“It’s a simple problem to resolve, we abstract more water than there is rain, and to add insult to injury we allow leakages, pollution and major development (sic HS2) to wreak further damage. Thankfully we now look to have senior level support and commitment from Westminster and the boards of the water companies to put our Chalk Streams first.
The Chiltern Society and our delivery partner at the Chilterns Chalk Streams Project will be watching closely to see if the commitments result in actions and resources being put in the right place.”
The full two hour conference can be seen here, and we will be publishing a brief update soon answering all the questions asked at the conference.
We would particularly like to thank our Patron Earl Howe for chairing the summit, to our volunteers who made this all happen, and all those working on the ground to keep our amazing Chalk Streams healthy and alive. Thank you!
