A new project is up and running in Radstock and Midsomer Norton to better connect local people to their rivers and other blue spaces. Bristol Avon Rivers Trust (BART) are running the Our Blue Spaces programme working with communities who live near the Cam and Wellow Brooks.

BART will be hosting community events, recruiting citizen scientists and adding sustainable drainage planters to the town centre in Radstock. The aim is to strengthen appreciation and passion for the natural environment in the Somer Valley and provide exciting ways in which local communities can engage with their blue spaces.

The first event was a community river dip in Midsomer Norton along the Wellow Brook, where enthusiastic locals sampled and identified a range of river invertebrates. The event encouraged the community to reconnect with their local river and to learn new skills. Members of BART educated locals about their local river, water quality, and the creatures that live beneath the surface. They also discussed how people’s behaviour at home, such as water usage and pouring contaminants down the drain, impacts river health.

Bristol Avon Rivers Trust will work with residents to identify key features in our rivers.
(Bristol Avon Rivers Trust)

Early in 2023, a number of rain planters will be installed in Radstock to improve urban drainage and river health. Rain planters are an example of a sustainable urban drainage system, slowing down rainwater in urban environments to reduce surface water and reduce the flow into drains, in an environmentally sustainable way. Downpipes are redirected into large planters filled with a variety of plants; rainwater waters plants instead of going straight down the drain.

In the summer of 2023, BART will be recruiting citizen scientists near the Cam and Wellow Brooks to take part in their annual RiverBlitz event. Volunteers will collect water quality and various other data from their chosen location on the river. The data collected can then be used to inform future action on the rivers.

Simon Hunter, BART’s Chief Executive Officer, said: “Our rivers are remarkable in what they provide – water for drinking, washing and living; a space to play, reconnect and restore with ourselves, family and friends; provide habitat for an abundance of wildlife; and an array of other important functions including irrigating our food, transportation, energy, religion and livelihoods. A lot of this connection with rivers has been lost with communities becoming disengaged with the natural environment around them. The ‘Our Blue Spaces’ project aims to reignite and create a new appreciation and passion for the natural environment and provide exciting ways in which local communities can engage with their local rivers and streams, including learning ways to protect them.”

BART expect the Our Blue Spaces project will encourage further investment to improve the health of the Cam and Wellow Brooks which are not in good ecological health. This project is funded by Bath and North East Somerset Council and the Bristol Avon Catchment Partnership.