Discovery centre's wildlife fears over sewage plan

A discovery centre manager has raised concerns over a proposed new sewage pipeline saying the river concerned provides a healthy habitat for wildlife.

The plans would see treated sewage discharged into the River Onny, which runs through land owned by the Shropshire Hills Discovery Centre in Craven Arms.

Grant Wilson, from the centre, said the area was home to native crayfish, breeding otters, kingfishers and dippers.

Seven Trent said the pipe would transfer water that has been through a full treatment process, not untreated sewage, and the proposal had been put together in consultation with the Environment Agency and Natural England.

"Children paddle in here, people bring their dogs to play in the summer and also we know that it's a very healthy habitat and we've got breeding otters that we're really, really proud of," Mr Wilson said.

"We've got kingfishers that use the site as well and we're just concerned that that will always be the case. We would hate to think that anything that might happen could threaten that."

"We're not going to get into the political fray about this. We just hope that before the scheme does go ahead, if it does go ahead, that sort of thing is considered, so we just want to make sure that this river is protected," he added.

A petition against the planned Severn Trent pipeline has already led to a petition with more than 6,000 signatures.

In a statement, Severn Trent said the Environment Agency and Natural England would need to be satisfied the proposed option would not negatively impact biodiversity and wildlife. 

"If consent to proceed is given, we will of course hold local community and stakeholder engagement sessions to discuss the plans in more detail."

Follow BBC Shropshire on BBC Sounds, Facebook, X and Instagram.