£10,000 for second bathing water bid

A TOTAL of £10,000 will be spent on a fresh bid for bathing water status in a section of river in Mill Meadows, Henley.

The town council has said it will support a new application to the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs after the first bid was rejected in February because the number of swimmers needed to qualify was deemed too low.

The council has committed £5,000 towards the cost of the application to be submitted in October with the other £5,000 being sourced from elsewhere.

The previous bid was submitted in October by Thames21, a charity which works to improve and restore rivers in and around London and was supported by both the town council and South Oxfordshire District Council.

Campaigners say that bathing water status would give the river greater environmental protection as it places a legal obligation on polluters and the Government to test water quality during the bathing season and improve it.

Among the criteria to qualify for the status is that 100 swimmers must be recorded passing a designated count point on any chosen day within a four-hour period.

More than 545 swimmers were recorded during a count that took place in July for the first application but this was deemed null and void by Defra as it was carried out during an organised event, the Henley Swim Club to Pub.

Speaking at a meeting of the council’s recreation and amenities committee, Deputy Mayor Rory Hunt said: “We should get this done and it will give us some excellent leverage to getting the Thames a bit clearer.”

Councillor Tom Buckley said: “My concern is that we’re using the bathing water designation to try to get the river cleaned up.

“We need people to swim in the river to get the bathing water designation but nobody will swim in the water unless it’s proven to be clean.”

He suggested holding the count on one of the hottest days of the year.

Town clerk Sheridan Jacklin-Edward said: “Basically if the Defra guidance doesn’t change then the chances of success are very low, which is why the reapplication would need to be done in conjunction with lobbying Defra to change the criteria.”

Councillor Gill Dodds said the council should revisit the proposal if there was a problem raising the other half of the funds.

“We don’t want it to fail because we can’t reach the full amount of money,” she added.