North-East dredging and sewage protest to take place this weekend

On Sunday, August 28, at 11am, people will join together along the North-East coast from Berwick-Upon-Tweed to Teesside in protest over local dredging and sewage works.

Dredging is the act of clearing riverbeds by removing mud, weeds and rubbish and last took place in the River Tees in September 2021 on behalf of PD Ports.

As part of the construction of the South Bank Quay for the free port, dredging must take place.

Initially, organisers of the protest, Sally Bunce and Alison Pake, wanted to create an unbroken human chain from South Gare to Saltburn Pier, in East Cleveland, which was an area largely affected by crustacean deaths in October 2021.

Sally Bunce, a marine mammal rescuer who also volunteers in schools, said: "It’s a really impactful way of showing and making a stand of solidarity and it’s very peaceful.

"We don’t want to be in people’s faces, we just want people to say enough’s enough.”

Inspiration came from another protest in August 1989 where around two million people from Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania joined hands across 420 miles in protest against Soviet occupation.

Similar protests along the North East’s coastline have taken place before.

In May 2022, 25 fishing boats sailed up the River Tees in protest over mass crab and lobster deaths.

Around 200 people turned up to support the fishermen who claimed their livelihoods had been damaged by the sudden crustacean deaths.

Sally does not know how many people will be attending the protest on Sunday but said the group has had a lot of interest on social media.

She said: “That’s why we picked a Sunday, at that time of day and on a bank holiday weekend.

"We hope to get people power from people on the beaches already.”

She later added: “We’ll be happy with what we get and just getting people out there feeling empowered and knowing they’ve done their bit.”

Volunteers are still needed to help coordinate the event and take pictures, videos or drone footage.

Anyone who is interested should contact the group at https://www.facebook.com/groups/reclaimoursea.