Appeal to help save Marlborough river (From The Wiltshire Gazette and Herald)
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Appeal to help save Marlborough river
11:00am Wednesday 22nd February 2012 in News By Nigel Kerton
Just as campaigners for the River Kennet joined Thames Water in appealing to everyone to try to conserve water it was announced by Environment Secretary Caroline Spelman that the area was officially in drought.
She confirmed on Monday that the Kennet, which has dried up west of Marlborough, is among the areas in the West of England that is causing most concern.
This reinforces Thames Water’s case that every drop of water saved by families will help prevent the river suffering even more.
Thames Water, which pumps out millions of litres a day from wells near Marlborough to keep taps running in Swindon and Hungerford, is also joining in.
It has plans to bring a new water supply to Swindon homes from the north of the town instead of from the River Kennet but that will cost £10m and take years to achieve.
The current situation is now said to be even worse than the record drought of 1976.
Under its Care for the Kennet river protection campaign, Thames Water is urging customers in Marlborough, south Swindon and Hungerford to order free water-saving gadgets from the company’s website www.thameswater.co.uk/waterwisely or by calling 0800 358 6665.
The move has been backed by campaign group Action for the River Kennet (ARK), the Angling Trust and World Wildlife Fund UK.
Richard Aylard, sustainability director for Thames Water, said: “We all need to recognise that our water comes from our local river or from the aquifer that feeds that river – the less water we all use, the less we need to take from the river.
“This is not just our problem, it’s everyone’s problem and we can all do our bit to help – for example, turning off taps while we brush our teeth can save six litres of water a minute.”
Charlotte Hitchmough, director of ARK, said: “The Kennet is in a worse state this winter than anyone has ever seen it.
“The upper reaches are dry and many thousands of fish have died.This time of year is spawning season for brown trout, but some of their usual spawning grounds are either dry, or just too shallow for the fish to use.
“It’s heart-breaking to see a river slowly dying.”
Comments(18)
BEAVERSCOUT
says...
8:16pm Wed 22 Feb 12
I wouldn't trust them with another 30 years !!
Blasted incompetents!!
shed
says...
9:00pm Wed 22 Feb 12
and is it true its being exported to Spain in container ships?
shed
says...
9:01pm Wed 22 Feb 12
and is it true its being exported to Spain in container ships?
Another Honda Worker
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8:41am Thu 23 Feb 12
notscot
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11:10am Thu 23 Feb 12
Water companies also attract interest from private equity. The infrastructure arm of 3i has a 10 per cent share of Anglian Water Group as well as a junior debt position in Thames Water."
The above was some time ago - but that's been the trend for years. Bit cheeky calling it Thames Water shouldn't that be Melbourne Water?
We don't seem to own anything anymore - not even our own utilities. Crazy.
Alec@wotta-u.wanadoo.co.uk
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11:00pm Fri 24 Feb 12
Time te return it to River Kennet
notscot
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9:04am Sat 25 Feb 12
Nevous enough when we run them - but another country?
Like I said - crazy.
Phorever
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9:15pm Sat 25 Feb 12
notscot
says...
12:45am Sun 26 Feb 12
chrisbizarre
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4:47am Sun 26 Feb 12
notscot wrote:Big Brother is watching and I would imagine Egor the deleter has his finger on the big red button just in case anyone says anything contrary to the image the Gazette wants to portray.
Yes - loads of "removed" comments - and so many items closed from the get-go - no comments allowed at all. Then there's the items that close after 24hrs - or less - wots going on?
I find it hilarious that they can pull a comments thread at any time day or night and yet a spelling mistake of the famous band on the the front page of the website has gone uncorrected for 2 days even though 2 people have commented pointing out the mistake and what the correct spelling is.
well oill beef hooked
says...
6:06am Sun 26 Feb 12
Phorever wrote:They ask you for comments and you take your time to sign up so you can leave them only for the gazzete to either delete them or close them.Cani ask the gazzete just what is the point of a comment section? Why if you do not like what is being put do you delete everything,including comment which has remained on topic ? On stories which would make a lot of debate you are unable to leave a comment.Eithber get rid of the comment section alltogether to stop wasting peoples time or do it properly where comments can be wrote on all stories.
I have nothing to say about this, but this is the first story I have found that has had comments open. What is going on? Open the comments on the other stories please.
well oill beef hooked
says...
6:06am Sun 26 Feb 12
Phorever wrote:They ask you for comments and you take your time to sign up so you can leave them only for the gazzete to either delete them or close them.Cani ask the gazzete just what is the point of a comment section? Why if you do not like what is being put do you delete everything,including comment which has remained on topic ? On stories which would make a lot of debate you are unable to leave a comment.Eithber get rid of the comment section alltogether to stop wasting peoples time or do it properly where comments can be wrote on all stories.
I have nothing to say about this, but this is the first story I have found that has had comments open. What is going on? Open the comments on the other stories please.
Triton
says...
10:19am Sun 26 Feb 12
chrisbizarre wrote:The Gazette & Herald's moderator, AKA Egor the deleter, has an extremely itchy trigger finger only too happy to wipe a whole section of comments rather than edit out any supposedly offensive comments. As someone above has stated, they invite us to comment, we take the time to give an opinion (no matter how tenuous or frivolous) and they throw it back in our faces by their ham-fisted approach to moderation.
notscot wrote:Big Brother is watching and I would imagine Egor the deleter has his finger on the big red button just in case anyone says anything contrary to the image the Gazette wants to portray.
Yes - loads of "removed" comments - and so many items closed from the get-go - no comments allowed at all. Then there's the items that close after 24hrs - or less - wots going on?
I find it hilarious that they can pull a comments thread at any time day or night and yet a spelling mistake of the famous band on the the front page of the website has gone uncorrected for 2 days even though 2 people have commented pointing out the mistake and what the correct spelling is.
.
They (the G & H) do use the comments section to garner extra tit-bits to pad out a story for a next edition because I have been contacted in the past to add details to a story after I left some comments.
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It would be interesting to see a statement on here detailing their thoughts on this matter because it's getting to a point where any comment you make will be erased by dear old Egor.
Phorever
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10:12am Tue 28 Feb 12
shed
says...
8:01pm Tue 28 Feb 12
Probably because he gets so much flak about poor spelling, lacklustre copy and poor fact checking?
shed
says...
10:20pm Tue 28 Feb 12
Phorever wrote:Good idea, but it will only last so long before the delete button gets hit.
Maybe we should direct all future comments to closed story's to this page, regardless what they are.
Alec@wotta-u.wanadoo.co.uk
says...
11:22pm Sat 3 Mar 12
well oill beef hooked wrote:Extractions are restricted, the problem is they are not being replenished -ALL recycled cleansed water goes into replenishing the Thames to the detriment of Kennet
They should restrict what they take out of the river that way they can make sure everyone cuts down on water.
well oill beef hooked says...
5:37pm Wed 22 Feb 12