River Stour clean-up proposal after concerns on waste
A major clean-up plan has been unveiled for the River Stour as an environmental body reveals it has become a dumping ground for chemicals and waste.
The Birmingham and Black Country Wildlife Trust hopes its efforts will breathe new life into the 25-mile long river which runs through Stourbridge and Halesowen.
And they are appealing for ideas from residents about how to improve the water.
Spokesman Pip Bradley said the Stour was suffering pollution caused by careless disposal of waste from washing machine detergents to car wash chemicals.
She said: "People tend to put anything down the sink and just assume it goes to the sewer when, most of the time, it is going into the surface water drains and into the local water ways."
But she said: "We want to increase the number of species that are not tolerant of the pollution and to do that we need to improve the water quality.
"Living along the river are a whole host of water birds who would also benefit from cleaner water."
Miss Bradley said there would be no public consultation event, but thoughts on the river or its possible improvement can be emailed to pip.b@bbcwildlife.org.uk or by phoning 07791 070991 before March 14.
She will then present the ideas put forward to the Environment Agency.
