Meg Avon, a researcher and performance poet who symbolically married the River Avon in 2023 to highlight water pollution issues, has successfully convinced Bath and North East Somerset Council to take a firm stand on protecting the river. On July 16, the council unanimously endorsed a charter recognizing the river’s rights—to exist, flow sustainably, and remain free from pollution.
This move is part of a broader campaign by the group ‘We Are Avon,’ which advocates for every council along the River Avon’s 83-mile stretch to adopt the charter. With 120 river guardians already monitoring 260,000 acres of the Avon’s bioregion, the group aims for comprehensive regional cooperation to safeguard the waterways.
Meg Avon emphasized during the council meeting that acknowledging the river’s rights is a matter of shared existence, not a radical idea: “Humans and nature are not separate; we are together.” Their campaign follows the example of the River Wye, which in May became the first river in the UK to have all councils from its source to its mouth commit to a protective charter.
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Councillor Andy Wait, who tabled the motion, expressed hope that all councils—from unitary to parish—would adopt the charter to ensure collective responsibility for the river’s health. Already, Winsley Parish Council in Wiltshire has signed up, recognizing their water is part of the same flow through Bath and North East Somerset.
Local councillor Oli Henman voiced concern over reports of swimmers falling ill after entering the river, calling for urgent collaborative efforts to clean up the waterways and restore biodiversity. Meanwhile, East Harptree resident Daisy Thompson raised alarm over frequent discharges from a nearby water recycling center into a tributary brook feeding into the Avon, prompting her to ban her children from swimming there.
The council’s resolution addresses these concerns by committing to improve water quality and biodiversity across the Avon and its tributaries. It also urges the council leader to initiate regular meetings with Wessex Water to hold the company accountable for untreated sewage discharge.
The River Avon remains a cherished natural resource and recreation spot for many. Meg Avon’s unique wedding to the river—highlighted in the film ‘Rave on for the Avon’—marks a personal and public commitment to protecting this vital ecosystem. This initiative represents a growing movement to secure clean, thriving rivers for generations to come.