Mersey Basin Campaign

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The Mersey Basin Campaign works within the catchments of the River Mersey and the River Ribble, in the counties of Lancashire, Merseyside, Greater Manchester and Cheshire and in the High Peak area of Derbyshire in the UK. Its primary goal is to repair the damage done by industrialisation and to foster a future that is modern and prosperous with an improved environment.

1 Mission
2 History
3 Organisation
4 Local action
5 External link

[edit] Mission

The campaign's mission is to:

Improve water quality so that all rivers, streams and waters in the Mersey and Ribble catchments are clean enough to support fish by 2010.
Encourage waterside regeneration
Actively engage the public, private, community and voluntary sectors in the process.

[edit] History

The Mersey Basin Campaign was established in 1985 in the wake of the Toxteth riots in Liverpool. Michael Heseltine, then Environment Minister in Margaret Thatcher's Conservative government, was the driving force behind its creation. He spoke of the River Mersey at the time as "a disgrace to a civilised society".

[edit] Organisation

The Mersey Basin Campaign is a partnership that is backed by the UK Government through the sponsorship of the Department for Communities and Local Government. It is also supported by businesses, local authorities and public agencies.

The campaign works through two bodies: the Mersey Basin Business Foundation and the Healthy Waterways Trust. The Foundation is responsible for business and administrative tasks, as well as much of the campaign's finances, whilst the Healthy Waterways Trust is a charitable body whose main role is to administer the campaign's charitable funds. The campaign is overseen by its council, which has around 30 members drawn from various public and private sector partners.

Since 2004, the campaign's Chair has been Peter Batey, Lever Professor of Town and Regional Planning at the University of Liverpool.