WildFish report shows sewage pollution in Windermere is causing deterioration of Cunsey Beck

A WildFish Report into the health of Cunsey Beck, which feeds into Windermere, shows that sewage pollution is causing the stream to deteriorate. WildFish is now beginning the legal process to make the regulator do its job to stop the pollution.

Just a few hundred yards from Beatrix Potter’s House at Hill Tops near Windermere and downstream from Wordsworth’s school at Hawkshead lie Esthwaite Water and Cunsey Beck.  Even up to relatively recently, the waters of the lake and the stream were home to diverse ranges of species of plant and animals including insects and fish. Esthwaite Water and part of Cunsey Beck have been classified as “Sites of Special Scientific Interest” (SSSI) to give them extra protection. But that hasn’t been enough to stop these once ecologically-diverse waterbodies from declining.

Despite their cultural and ecological significance, the lake and the stream have been subject to continued pollution which has simply worsened in recent years.   That is because the waters of Esthwaite and Cunsey Beck receive treated and untreated sewage from pumping stations and wastewater works at Hawkshead, Esthwaite Lodge, and Near Sawrey. This pollution eventually flows down to Windermere via Cunsey Beck

Now, a report put together by WildFish, using its own “SmartRivers” data gathered by Save Windermere and independent expert Dr Nick Everall, has concluded that these once pristine waterbodies have deteriorated due to sewage pollution.

WildFish has written to the Environment Agency (EA) with a copy of the report to notify it under the Environmental Damage Regulations 2015, that environmental damage has been caused and that it must now order United Utilities to take action to prevent and remediate the damage.

This is not the first time WildFish and Save Windermere have been involved in the issue of Cunsey Beck pollution. In 2022, a serious incident which an EA report said killed “100%” of the fish and invertebrates in the stream was poorly investigated by the EA and put down to an algal bloom and not sewage. A subsequent WildFish information request uncovered a series of errors and inadequacies in the EA’s handling of the investigation. These findings have since been exposed nationally in BBC Panorama’s episode ‘The Water Pollution Cover-up’.

The difference now is that the WildFish report shows that the stream has deteriorated over time and that this can be linked to sewage.

Meanwhile, the press has reported on several recent major pollution events where raw sewage has spilled for seven days from Hawkshead and Near Sawrey sewage treatment works.

Streams that feed into Windermere should be home to abundant plant, fish and invertebrate life. But sewage pollution causes damage to these once pristine habitats.

Justin Neal

Solicitor at WildFish

Justin continued: “the water company and the EA as well as Ofwat have had lots of time to come up with a solution – but nothing has been done to stop the pollution. That is why we have notified the Environment Agency under the Environmental Damage Regulations. We expect the EA to take this seriously and begin to force the water company to sort out the problem without delay”.

Janina, deputy CEO at WildFish, said: ”together with the Save Windermere team we have collected high quality, robust data from Cunsey Beck using our SmartRivers monitoring programme. The data – that the EA should have been collecting itself – shows the dire deterioration of invertebrate life within the stream”.

This evidence should be a wake up call to the EA that action is needed now. There is no time for more excuses.

Janina Gray

Deputy Chief Executive at WildFish

Supporting Information

Use the link below to read the WildFish Cunsey Beck Data Report.