Healthy Rivers and Seas Summit
Healthy Rivers and Seas Summit
Friday 27 February
Watch the recording on Facebook and YouTube
We apologise for the poor sound, we had technical issues on the day and also weren't able to show or record the first part of the Summit, which was a presentation from Mark Rice of the EA.
The Healthy Rivers and Seas Summit, convened by Cllr Leigh Frost Leader of Cornwall Council, brought together the authorities, agencies and organisations involved in water quality, with the ability to identify and deliver solutions to the ongoing issues Cornwall is dealing with.
Cornwall Council passed a motion 'Working to End the Sewage Scandal' in September 2025, calling for urgent action to tackle sewage pollution in the region’s rivers and beaches. The motion commits the Council to work with South West Water and other stakeholders, including through a summit, to address repeated pollution incidents.
The Summit explained how organisations are working to tackle pollution in Cornwall’s rivers and beaches, acknowledging that water health and quality is complex and requires collective action and personal responsibility. It was evidence-led, briefly addressing the current state of water in Cornwall, looking at trends and challenges including sewage discharges, land management, and urban runoff.
"The health of our ocean and rivers is a complex issue that requires collective action and personal responsibility. Cornwall Council can have a far bigger impact - beyond the reactive legal powers we have - acting as a convener, bringing together all the agencies and organisations involved in understanding the problems and identifying and putting solutions into action. We can also ensure residents’ concerns are heard."
Cllr Leigh Frost, Leader of Cornwall Council
The Summit was intended as the start of an ongoing conversation between partners and key stakeholders, leading to initiatives that will help address water quality and quantity aimed at improving the health of our rivers and seas - including some of the ongoing issues being experienced in Cornish towns and villages after the recent heavy rainfall.
The event was chaired by Julie Skentelbery, from BBC Radio Cornwall. Julie took questions from the invited audience for the Panel to respond to and discuss, as well as questions from residents to ensure their concerns are being heard.
The Panel
The Summit Panel brought together a group of representatives of stakeholder organisations, involved in water quality, to discuss and work together to improve water quality across Cornwall.
The Panellists were:
- Cornwall Council: Cllr Loic Rich, Lead Member for Climate Change and Environment
- South West Water (SWW): Carolyn Cadman, Chief Sustainability and Natural Resources Officer
- Environment Agency (EA): Mark Rice, Area Director for Devon and Cornwall
- Cornwall NFU Cornwall: Jon Perry
- Country Land & Business Association (CLA): Victoria Vyvyan, Deputy President
- Marine and Coastal Partnership: Claire Eatock, Chair
- Surfers Against Sewage (SAS): Giles Bristow, CEO
- Westcountry Rivers Trust (WRT): Laurence Couldrick, CEO
- Cornwall Wildlife Trust (CWT): Matt Walpole, CEO - unfortunately Matt was unable to attend.
Cllr Leigh Frost, Leader of Cornwall Council, convened the Summit.
Invited Audience
The Panel heard about and discuss the causes and possible solutions with an invited audience of key stakeholders. The expectation is that the Summit will not end as a one-off conversation but will result in collective and tangible actions from the organisations involved in the solutions.
Outcomes
We will publish the questions and answers from the Summit, and the agreed actions from the Panel's workshop, that took place immediately after the Summit, as soon as possible.
Watch the recording of the Summit
You can watch the recording of the Healthy Rivers and Seas Summit using the links below.
We are sorry but we had technical problems on the day and weren't able to live stream or record the first part of the Summit, which was a presentation from Mark Rice of the EA, and the sound is unfortunately poor, but we hope you can still hear the majority of the discussion.
Questions for the Panel
Thank you to everyone who submitted a question for the Panel and thank you to our invited audience for attending.
Livestream
Watch the recording:
Watch on Facebook
Watch YouTube
We are sorry but we had technical problems on the day and weren't able to live stream or record the first part of the Summit, which was a presentation from Mark Rice of the EA, and the sound is unfortunately poor, but we hope you can still hear the majority of the discussion.
