"IMAGINE having to hear in a short time from now that ‘our beautiful harbour contains no life’.” 

These are the words from a group called the Christchurch Harbour & Marine Society (CH&MS) as it calls on BCP Council for urgency. 

The problem, it said, is phosphate and nitrate levels are “off the scale” in Christchurch Harbour and there is “no protection in place”. 

Phosphates cause algae to grow which reduces oxygen in the water and can kill plants and animals. 

CH&MS, a voluntary organisation set up to highlight issues in the “highly polluted” harbour, consists of , chairman Martin Stewart, secretary Louise Maley, councillor Vanessa Ricketts and volunteers such as anglers, fishermen, residents and more. 

(Image: Richard Stride)

The group said: “Unlike the much larger Poole Harbour, which has only one river ‘The Frome’ flowing into it, our much smaller Christchurch Harbour receives two large and increasingly polluted rivers, the River Avon and the River Stour.  

“We don’t think it's too dramatic to say that it is acting as the cesspit for BCP.” 

A statement added: “However the phosphate levels in the Stour are consistently much higher. 

“It’s not difficult to see why. The Stour flows down from Blandford, passes by Wimborne and then crosses the whole of the BCP conurbation passing the Berry Hill Sludge Treatment Centre at Throop and the massive Holdenhurst Sewage Treatment Plant alongside the river and the A338 Spur Road as well as many contaminated landfill sites.” 

CH&MS said it has been measuring the phosphate and nitrate levels for two years and described the findings as “frightening”. 

A petition has been set up on the council's website.

Recent rule changes at BCP Council now means that developers who have not yet been given planning permission to start projects in the area must now include measures to ensure phosphate levels don’t rise. 

Andy Martin, ward councillor for Highcliffe and Walkford, previously said that the authority has “no choice” but to bring in the measures as the river is in a “terrible state”. 

Andy Hadley, cabinet member for the environment, added that developers might want to “stick their hands in their pocket”.  

He said BCP Council has tried every route it can to allow development to continue in Christchurch. 

Discussions between Natural England and BCP Council concluded that the Avon is “already saturated” with phosphates upstream by the time it reaches the Christchurch Waste Water Treatment Works. 

The two also agreed that there is “limited means of offsetting any impact as there is very little river between the site and the harbour where pollutants are readily dispersed due to the tidal conditions.