Council gets funding to sort river pollution

East Devon District Council said the £4m would help improve the water quality in the River Axe

A council will receive government funding to help deal with pollution in a river.

East Devon District Council said the £4m would help improve the water quality in the River Axe.

It said the fund would also help with plans for 1,000 homes due to be built nearby in the next 15 years.

The authority said a range of factors, which included agriculture run-off and new homes built in the area, contributed to the pollution in the river.

It said the funding would be used to "upgrade sewage treatment plants and septic tanks, as well as measures to prevent flooding" and "wetlands will also be constructed and water saving measures on council homes will be introduced".

'Protect natural world'

Councillor Paul Arnott, council leader, said "it will help us to unlock much needed new homes in Axminster" and "it will help us to act on our recent Declaration of a Nature Emergency".

"The River Axe is of national importance for its biodiversity but has been in a very poor condition due to the phosphates that have been pouring into its waterway and harming the wildlife it supports.

"This funding will help us to address this urgent situation, enable delivery of the local plan and start to clean up one of East Devon’s most important rivers for wildlife.”

Councillor Todd Olive, portfolio holder for Strategic Planning at the council, said: “Nutrient pollution is an urgent and complex problem across England, where increased levels of nitrogen and phosphorous from a variety of sources – including both homes and agriculture – can have serious consequences for natural habitats and wildlife.

"While helpful in unlocking housebuilding projects currently blocked due to this pollution, first and foremost this funding will help protect our natural world, which is so crucial to East Devon in so many ways.”