After the Warren at Hay-on-Wye was declared the first Welsh inland bathing water in June, Powys Council this morning erected signs advising the public not to swim at the historic swimming area due to high levels of bacteria being detected.

Friends of the River Wye is delighted by the Welsh government’s decision to award bathing status to the Warren outside Hay-on-Wye. The government’s regulator, Natural Resources Wales, will now be obliged to monitor water quality at the Warren between May and September, to publish the results, and to take steps to improve that quality if it is poor.

With a general election due on 4th July and in light of Defra’s failure to provide a meaningful plan for the Wye, Friends of the River Wye and its allies are calling on all political parties to adopt a meaningful, cross border approach to bringing our river back from the brink of ecological destruction.

Despite marginal improvements, Defra’s River Wye Action Plan lacks scope and ambition. Sadly this plan falls far short of what is needed to restore the Wye, which is especially disappointing after such a long wait. Incredibly, this plan only seems to cover England, not Wales. Where is the cross-border plan for the whole river that everyone has long called for?