00:00A local minister has said that work is starting to clean up the River Avon from sewage.
00:06Flowing through Bath and Bristol, the river lies at the heart of a number of local beauty
00:12spots, is used by water sports clubs and swimmers and is home to the area's boating community.
00:18But as of 2023 it was rated the third most polluted river in the country due to the dumping
00:24of sewage.
00:25The sewage works are just a stone's throw away from one of the district's favourite
00:30summer beauty spots, the riverside at the Shallows and the Mead Lane in Salford.
00:36Further downstream there is a popular wild swimming spot as the river flows past Conham
00:41Park and into Bristol, which campaigners want to designate as a bathing water status.
00:49Water Minister Emma Hardy said,
00:51We've absolutely already started working on that now.
00:55As Water Minister, Miss Hardy is also responsible for flooding, asked if the local government's
01:01housing targets, which call for 6,833 to be built each year across the Somerset councils,
01:09could increase the risk of flooding.
01:12Miss Hardy said,
01:21and more importantly, that those homes do not create a flood risk for other areas as
01:26well.
01:27The government added that the Bridgewater tidal barrier is getting £43 million from
01:32the flood funding and will help to protect 11,300 homes and 1,500 businesses in Bridgewater
01:42and the nearby areas from tidal flooding.
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