The Express: Activist on a mission to save England's 'crown jewel' from horror of pollution
Matt Staniek has spent years campaigning to protect England's largest lake from pollution.
An activist whose “watched sewage destroy” Lake Windermere has trekked deep into the Lake District’s mountains to find the source of England’s “crown jewel”.
Matt Staniek embarked on a journey to show Britons “what water in the Lake District should look like” amid an ongoing battle with water company United Utilities.
The campaigner said: “This is England's largest lake, and it's dying. I grew up on its shores, and I've watched sewage destroy the place that I love, the place that is cherished by millions of people.
“For the past four years, I've been fighting the water company that's been dumping sewage into our lake, exposing pollution, illegal activity and lies. Today I'm going to follow one of its rivers deep into the mountains to find the source of Windermere. On this journey I'm going to show you what water in the Lake District should look like, what's destroying it and why we have to save Windermere.”
After breaking his neck in a car accident, Matt spent three years heading to Lake Windermere every day while he recovered mentally and physically.
He told how he saw the natural world around him suddenly decline during this time.
Lake Windermere faces threats from an increase in water temperature, flooding, tourism and inadequate wastewater infrastructure.
Matt, who has released a video highlighting his journey to the source of Windermere, wanted to counter any suggestions that farming is causing as much devastation to the lake as sewage.
He met cattle and sheep farmer Chris Hodgson, 60, who runs Rydal Hall Farm with his wife Sharon.
The tenant farmers have become guardians of their 4,000 acre property nestled in the heart of the Lake District which they are determined to protect for future generations.
Chris said: “I'm very lucky I've been born here, bred here. I appreciate it more now than I did 10, 15, 20 years ago. And I've noticed in my lifetime, the trees are dying out slowly. I want it to go back to how it was and recreate what I was brought up with.
He will plant up to 50,000 trees in the next two years and has not used fertiliser on his “special” meadow for the last six years.
Chris said: “Every generation does something different, don't they? You can't stay the same, you have to progress, don't you? And the way things are going, you talk about climate change and all this stuff. So if we can do a little bit here in this valley, we're doing our bit, aren't we? The older I get, the more I want to give back to the next generation. It's going to take 20 or 30 years and I won't be here in 20 or 30 years. No, I'll be dead and gone by that time. But there'll be somebody else, my children, or their children, or your children or whatever, the next generation will hopefully come along and say, well, that Chris Hodgson, he wasn't a bad bloke, was he? Planting a few trees and…look at it.”
Chris added: “When we were kids, we used to go catching bullheads and catfish and things in the river and you just don't see them anymore. Farmers in the Lake District love nature just as much as anybody else and they don't want to pollute rivers or poison animals or anything like that. Why have animals if you don't love them?”
Matt told how Chris is one farmer in one valley but Windermere has no dairy herds, no poultry and no arable farming.
He said: “It's really low intensity cattle and sheep grazing and there is no way it's impacting Windermere in the same way as sewage.”
A United Utilities spokesman said: “We’re focused on delivering the largest investment in water and wastewater infrastructure for a century in Windermere and right across the North West, something that campaigners and customers alike have told us they want to see. This ambitious investment programme will protect and enhance over 500km of rivers, lakes and bathing waters whilst safeguarding drinking water supplies for millions of customers.”
“We are working at pace to upgrade our treatment works to ensure wastewater is treated to the highest standards and reducing the number of times that storm overflows operate during periods of heavy rain. In addition, United Utilities is funding an independent study with a steering group that includes a range of organisations such as the Lake District National Park Authority, Love Windermere, Westmorland and Furness Council, the Environment Agency as well as Save Windermere, to explore the feasibility of nothing but rainwater entering the lake.”
Heading towards the source of Windermere, Matt said: “As I went higher and higher I found myself getting more and more angry. Why is farming being blamed for something that is clearly caused by sewage? Look at the water, it's absolutely crystal clear.”
Matt compared Windermere to Lake Annecy, in the Haute-Savoie region of France.
He said: “In the 1970s, Annecy was one of Europe's most polluted lakes, but they took action. They stopped all the sewage discharges, and now it's crystal clear, full of fish, and is classed as the cleanest lake in Europe.”
Referring back to filthy Windermere, he added: “And this is England's pride and joy.”
The campaigner added: “All of us have to come together now. We're going to stop the sewage. This film is a moment. It's about everyone coming together to turn Windermere into the pristine water that is flowing off this mountainside. It's all about stopping the sewage, it's about accountability, it is about holding the water company, the regulator accountable for their failure to protect England's largest lake.”
United Utilities has been contacted for comment.
