PERSHORE along with Thrapston in Northamptonshire have become the first pair of English towns to officially twin its rivers.
On World Rivers Day (September 28), the town council formed a partnership with Thrapston Town Council and in doing so, launched the UK’s Sister Rivers Initiative.
Backed by The Rivers Trust, the project twins Pershore’s Avon with Thrapston’s Nene, and is aimed at turning the tide on waterways pollution with citizen science, shared data, and joint action.
The River Avon at Pershore. Picture by Marcus Mingins 4125010MMR
The partnership unites the Avon and the Nene in a direct challenge to failed environmental enforcement policies by UK regulators that are driving current ecosystem collapse through habitat degradation.
It’s designed as a blueprint that any communities can adopt to unite disparate parts of the country to lobby environmental and catchment agencies.
Both town councils have passed formal resolutions to challenge the status quo which will involve holding regulators and water companies to account for the current state of the UK’s waterways.
Founder Councillor Michael Chapman-Pincher of Pershore Town Council, said:
“Councils carry grassroots weight. When towns unite we give our stretches of river a voice before they become sewers running through our communities instead of the historic waterways that define us.”
According to a 2024 report by The Rivers Trust, 85 per cent of UK rivers fail ecological standards due to sewage, farm run-off, and chemicals.
The charity has said that enforcement is broken with regulators relying on self-reporting by polluters, while local authorities lack resources to act effectively.
The development comes as the biggest legal claim ever brought in the UK over environmental pollution was filed at the High Court in respect of pollution of the Wye, Lugg and Usk this week.
Almost 4,000 people have signed up to the lawsuit against major poultry producers and a water company over allegations of ‘extensive and widespread pollution’ in Herefordshire.
