Rivers, Lakes and Seas: Water Quality Debate
Full Debate: Read Full DebateDepartment: Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Sarah Dyke
Main Page: Sarah Dyke (Liberal Democrat - Glastonbury and Somerton)Department Debates - View all Sarah Dyke's debates with the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs
Rivers, Lakes and Seas: Water Quality
Sarah Dyke Excerpts(3 days, 10 hours ago)
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Catherine Fookes
I agree entirely. The Government’s mission is growth. We need to see the cleaning-up of our waterways as an integral part of our growth mission.
We know that tackling diffuse pollution from agriculture will be a hard nut to crack, with farmers already under pressure, but we have examples of good practice in the Wye. For example, Avara is already shipping out 75% of the chicken waste from its Herefordshire chicken farms along the Wye. That is to be welcomed, but it does not solve the long-term problems of too much phosphate in our rivers.
Sarah Dyke (Glastonbury and Somerton) (LD)
I thank the hon. Member for securing this important debate. I represent Glastonbury and Somerton, and a large part of the Somerset levels and moors is in my constituency. Somerset is always at the forefront of flooding, and many of my farmers are always battling flooding. Grants such as the slurry infrastructure grant helped my livestock farmers ensure that nutrients such as phosphates do not enter the watercourses. That improves the viability of our farms, the health of our soil and the cleanliness of our rivers. Does the hon. Member agree that it was wrong for DEFRA to pause access to those grants?
Peter Dowd (in the Chair)
Order. Lots of Members wish to speak today, so we could end up with a two-minute limit on speeches. I ask Members to keep their interventions very short, otherwise the limit will go down to one and a half minutes and then down to one minute.