Environmental Communications
Fish Legal - a not-for-profit organisation of dedicated lawyers who use the law to fight polluters and others who damage and threaten the water environment - are stepping into the shoes of the regulator, with a private prosecution against Southern Water.
Southern Water, which provides water and wastewater for East Kent, parts of Sussex, Hampshire, and the Isle of Wight, is facing a private prosecution for polluting the River Test in Hampshire.
Fish Legal served a summons on the water company in July at its head office in Worthing. The charges relate to pollution entering the Test from an outfall operated by Southern Water at Nursling Industrial Estate near Southampton.
The world-renowned River Test is a rare chalkstream habitat, one of only around 200 such rivers in the world. It is a Site of Special Scientific Interest supporting Atlantic salmon, otters, water voles, brook lamprey, and bullhead but less than 18% of it is in ‘favourable’ condition. The section between Romsey and the estuary, the focus of the criminal case, is currently classified as ‘unfavourable’ due to polluting discharges.
Pollution has been entering the Test from Nursling Industrial Estate for decades without any effective enforcement action being taken by the Environment Agency. In March this year, Fish Legal made the regulator aware that it was stepping in to take its own private prosecution against Southern Water following diesel pollution in 2021 and 2022.
To support Fish Legal and spread the word about the unusual step, Zambuni was able to secure a total of over 180 pieces of press coverage, including nationals, regionals and specialist titles (highlighted below). The story reached millions of people who may not have heard of Fish Legal’s work before, but all share a common passion to protect our waterways. We continue to use our solid contacts within the environmental journalism sphere to put Fish Legal at the top of water quality conversation, building communities of supporters along the way.
Penny Gane, Head of Practice at Fish Legal
"We have been working with Zambuni Communications for over a year now and our communications have been completely transformed during that time. Claire and her team are professional, responsive and their enthusiasm is infectious. They have taken the time to really understand what we do and build trust with our team. Not only have they secured wider coverage for us, but they have also supported and advised us on dealing with the increased interest in our work and the opportunities that has come about as a result.”