Wolvercote Mill Stream bathing water status consultation begins

The council will have to display signage that rates the water quality from excellent to poor if the application is successful

A consultation has begun on whether to give a popular wild swimming spot in Oxford bathing water status.

An application for Wolvercote Mill Stream was submitted to the Department for Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) by Oxford City Council on behalf of the Oxford Rivers Project.

Defra confirmed the consultation will run until 2 March.

Layla Moran, MP for Oxford West and Abingdon, called it an "excellent opportunity to make our voices heard".

The special designation would result in the Environment Agency testing pollution levels regularly and the council putting up signage displaying the water quality.

If awarded, Port Meadow would be the second site to get the status, following Ilkley in West Yorkshire.

'Fed up'

More than 5,000 people signed a petition backing the move, and Thames Water has supported the application.

Ms Moran said: "I will tell the government how important granting this application is, and I hope that the many people across Oxford who have expressed their concerns about sewage pollution will do so too.

"People are fed up with swimming in polluted rivers. Ensuring that this stretch of the Thames is being regularly tested will encourage many more to visit the beautiful Port Meadow and enjoy wild swimming."

Speaking at a debate in Westminster Hall in November, Ms Moran said untreated sewage had been released into Oxfordshire rivers about 60 times in 2020.

Since the River Wharfe in Ilkley was granted bathing water status, Environment Agency data has shown levels of bacteria far higher than deemed safe for wild swimming.