Nationally Important Case for Rivers

We were in the Court of Appeal this week fighting against the Government and the Environment Agency in a nationally important case for rivers. 

In 2023, with a group of Yorkshire anglers, we took the last Government to court and won a landmark legal case over its failure to make more progress towards restoring degraded waters across the country. 

In a two-day hearing, on 14 and 15 January 2025, with the Pickering Fishery Association, we were defending an appeal against that ruling pursued by the new Government.

Judgement was reserved, so now we wait.

Will the Court find that the Government and the Environment Agency’s generic plans are what the law intended?  Or will they agree with us and the Pickering Fishery Association that to improve rivers nationwide, specific actions are required to sort out the problems that have already been identified for every waterbody?  

Waiting in the wings in a fresh legal challenge linked to the first.  In December, we filed a new judicial review to challenge the recent court-ordered Environment Agency review of measures for Costa Beck, which we say – again – are inadequate and unlawful. The new claim is on hold pending the outcome of the Government’s appeal.

We want tailored action to improve the health of every single river, steam, lake and coastal water country-wide.  And we won’t give up fighting until that happens because we believe that #EveryRiverCounts.