Thimblemill Brook causes a stink: Wildlife beauty spot under threat

Steven Hodgkinson caught up with welovebearwood and told us why we must save Thimblemill Brook.

Steven is from the Wildlife Trust’s Black Country Living Landscape Community Involvement Programme and is working alongside the Friends of Thimblemill Brook to raise awareness of this issue and tell people what they can do to help.

He explained that "faulty pipes and duel manhole covers are causing havoc for Smethwick’s Thimblemill Brook’s wildlife. In places raw sewage is pouring into this wonderful local water course and affecting its inhabitants. The problem comes from inadequate duel manhole covers that can become backlogged meaning raw sewage can pour into the local streams."

People don’t often realise that waste water from their property could be going directly into the streams. We have been working with Severn Trent, Sandwell MBC, the Environment Agency and the Friends of Thimblemill Brook to raise awareness of this pollution and try and prevent it.

We are asking people if they spot signs of pollution including grey water, toilet rolls, detergent (bubbling water) and effluent to call the Environment Agency incident hotline on 0800 807060 or Severn Trent on 0800 783 4444."

Moira Black from the Friends of Thimblemill Brook has added “The friends group works alongside Sandwell MBC to constantly try to improve the brook and make it a special place for people and wildlife. We would really like to sort this issue out and getting people to report the pollution is the first step.”

The Wildlife Trust’s Black Country Living Landscape Community Involvement Programme, has been awarded £442,338 by Natural England as part of its Access to Nature Programme, funded by £25M from the Big Lottery’s Funds Changing Spaces Programme.

To find out more about the water connections from your house you can visit the Environment Agency’s Yellow Fish project webpage which is full of information about water pollution and how to help your local streams. There is also a free ConnectRight leaflet which explains how to check your property.

The Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country is one of 47 local trusts working to make the United Kingdom a better place for people and wildlife.

With over 800,000 members, the Wildlife Trusts are the largest UK voluntary organisation dedicated to conserving the full range of the UK’s habitats and species, whether they be in the countryside, in cities or at sea. Collectively they manage over 2,300 nature reserves covering more than 90,000 hectares.

Locally The Wildlife Trust for Birmingham and the Black Country works to conserve biodiversity, improve the environment and raise awareness and understanding of wildlife issues.

For more information please visit www.bbcwildlife.org.uk or telephone 0121 454 1199.