THE River Teifi is dying.

That was the stark claim which emerged during a Ffynnone Resilience Group’s ‘’Save the Teifi’ meeting which drew an audience of 54 to Cilgerran Village Hall on Thursday night.

They included fishermen, farmers, professors of physical geography, lawyers, growers, artists and other members of the community.

Concerns for the river’s future were discussed amid fears that 'climate breakdown' was bringing increasing floods and droughts.

“Our infrastructure is not able to cope with the demands we put on the river now, and there is grave concern that the agencies responsible for protecting our environment are asleep at the wheel,” said a spokesperson.

“The Rivers Trust provides reports on the number of times sewage is dumped into our rivers.

“In 2021 sewage was dumped over 220 times below Cilgerran Castle and the story is the same along the Teifi and across the other rivers of Wales -complaints are made, but there is very little action.”

Back in January 2021 the Tivy-Side reported how lower parts of the river had failed to achieve 50 per cent of its targets for phosphate levels.

And the meeting heard claims that swimmers had reportedly fallen ill after bathing in the river.

Cllr John Davies felt Dwr Cymru and Natural Resources Wales did not consider the Teifi Valley a priority.

“The system is broken,” he said, adding that Dwr Cymru’s Asset Management Plan 7 paid ‘scant regard’ to the Teifi.

“We cannot pretend what we see is not real,” said the Ffynnone Resilience spokesperson.

“Quite apart from the death of the river, we need to think of the impact on our tourism and farming and so much more. Our economy will die along with the river.

“The Teifi has been the lifeblood of our area for centuries - it is madness that this desecration has been permitted to happen.

“This will be a long campaign and our next meeting is in Cilgerran Village Hall on the last Thursday in September - please come along!

“We need more people to get involved; whether it is in writing to our Senedd members, joining citizen science schemes, organising river clean-ups, planting more trees, or just raising awareness - there is a role for everyone.

For more information contact Ffynnone Resilience at: resiliencenorthpembs@gmail.com