To:

• The Environment Agency

• Severn Trent Water

• DEFRA

• Local Authorities across the Soar catchment

• MPs representing Leicester, Leicestershire, and surrounding constituencies

This letter is open to signatures from residents, river users, businesses, community organisations, and anyone who values a clean and healthy River Soar.

We, the undersigned, call for immediate and decisive action to protect the River Soar and its tributaries.

The River Soar is one of Leicestershire’s most important natural assets, a living river that supports wildlife, recreation, local communities, and future generations. Yet today it is being systematically polluted by sewage discharges, nutrient overload, agricultural runoff, and ageing wastewater infrastructure.

Across the catchment, from the Sence to the Wreake, Rothley Brook, Biam, and dozens of smaller streams, water quality has deteriorated to dangerous levels. Ammonia, phosphate, and nitrate concentrations are routinely above healthy ecological thresholds. sewage spills have become increasingly common, transparency has been replaced by secrecy, regulation has failed to protect the river.

The evidence is clear, regulatory monitoring, sewage discharge records, and citizen science surveys all indicate that parts of the River Soar catchment continue to experience sewage pollution, elevated nutrient levels, and ecological decline.

The scale of the challenge demands urgent and coordinated action.

We demand the following actions:

1. End all treated and untreated sewage discharges into the River Soar and its tributaries.

Routine discharges must stop.

Emergency releases must be tightly controlled, monitored, and publicly reported.

2. Set strict, enforceable nutrient reduction targets for the entire catchment.

Phosphate, nitrate, ammonia, and other indicators of pollution must be reduced to levels that support ecological recovery.

3. Publish funded timelines for wastewater infrastructure upgrades and provide annual progress updates to the public.

Severn Trent Water must install advanced phosphorus removal, expand storm capacity, fix infiltration issues, and publish transparent upgrade timelines.

4. Install real‑time water quality monitoring at key points across the river system.

All data must be public, live, and downloadable.

5. Publish a complete map of all outfalls, storm overflows, discharge points, and pollution sources.

This must include private, industrial, and agricultural sources.

See our Pollution Map.

6. Reform regulatory oversight and end the culture of secrecy.

All inspections, compliance failures, enforcement actions, and water company data must be made public.

7. Restore natural habitats and rebuild ecological resilience.

Floodplain reconnection, riparian planting, wetland restoration, and removal of barriers to fish migration must be prioritised.

8. Support citizen science as a legitimate evidence source.

Community monitoring must be recognised, integrated, and respected.

9. Introduce a Polluter Pays Framework for the River Soar.

Pollution must cost more than prevention.

10. Develop and publish a legally binding River Soar Recovery Plan.

With clear milestones, annual progress reporting, and enforceable deadlines for reducing pollution and restoring ecological health.

Why this matters

The River Soar is central to our communities, a place for walking, paddling, angling, wildlife watching, and connection with nature. It is part of our identity. Allowing it to decline further is a failure of duty, governance, and stewardship.

We believe a cleaner, healthier River Soar is achievable through transparency, investment, effective regulation, and community action. The recovery of this river should be a shared priority across the catchment.

We stand together for a clean, living River Soar.

Add your name

By signing this letter, you support urgent action to restore and protect the River Soar for wildlife, communities, and future generations.

The River Soar can become a national example of river recovery, where clean water, thriving wildlife, and transparent stewardship benefit everyone who depends on the catchment.

Note: Signatures will be presented to MPs, local authorities, the Environment Agency, and Severn Trent Water as part of our public accountability campaign.