17-year-old environmental campaigner meets MP to push for cleaner waters

A 17-year-old environmental campaigner is urging politicians to protect the waters loved by local communities as he prepares to meet Martin Wrigley, Newton Abbott MP, today (October 23) as part of a nationwide campaign for stronger water legislation.

Lucas Brendon is a student at a school in Torbay and is a member of Surfers Against Sewage’s New Wave Youth Advisory Panel.

At 14, he founded Roots Media, a youth-led organisation that educates and empowers young people to become the sustainable leaders of today.

As part of this, he is also the host of the podcast Turning the Tide, which raises awareness about some of the most prominent environmental issues.

Today (October 23), he is meeting Newton Abbott MP, Martin Wrigley, as part of the charity’s Clean the Bill Mass Lobby which will be used to put clean water at the top of the political agenda.

The nationwide initiative is running from October 22 to October 26 and will see communities across England meet their MPs to discuss sewage pollution and demand clear changes before the Clean Water Bill passes through Parliament.

The lobby follows the Surfers Against Sewage’s latest water quality report.

This found that English water companies discharged sewage more than 288,000 times in 2025, for over 1.8 million hours.

As well as this, the charity also reported more than 50,000 sewage discharges outside legal reporting timeframes in 2026 and more than 70,400 hours of sewage released on dry days.

For Lucas, the campaign is deeply personal.

As a swimmer who enjoys making the most out of the Devon coastline, he says the threat of sewage pollution is making young people increasingly wary of entering the water.

He said: “It’s a really personal issue for me. I am a swimmer and water user, as are so many of my friends.”

“I have to check before I swim in the water and before I connect with nature.”

“Having the effect of potentially getting ill from swimming in the water I think is really upsetting.”

Lucas also said that this possibility of becoming ill is taking away an important part of growing up by the coast for many young people in Devon.

He said: "There's so many other young people like me who grew up going to the seaside and playing in the water and swimming.”

“That is something that I think is slowly being eroded away by the fact that water companies are systematically using our seas and rivers for effective sewage.”

“I think it's really quite an obscene crisis that we are facing, because there are already so many other barriers to access nature for young people, whether that is social economic barriers or the effect of the digital sphere.”

During his meeting with Martin Wrigley, Lucas will bring a message from young people calling for the Clean Water Bill to put people and the environment ahead of shareholders and profits.

He said: "Water companies are putting shareholders above the people and places that they are really there to support.”

Lucas said young people want stronger legislation to protect the waters that they grew up enjoying.

He said: “We want our representatives to demand a stronger, more ambitious bill so that generations of young people after us can swim, surf and play in clean waters.”

He welcomed the support of Martin Wrigley for the campaign but said further action was needed to ensure legislation delivered clear change.

He added: “We are very lucky that Martin Wrigley and the Liberal Democrat party in general are very supportive of our mission.”

“But what I want to see Martin doing and what I want all representatives to realise is that we need to push the government to make the water act more water tight.”

A key demand for Lucas is a commitment to renationalisation, which he believes is necessary to ensure the water industry prioritises the environment and people over profits.

He said: "We've got to make sure there is a commitment to renationalisation within the water act that comes out later this year.”

“We want to see the water act serving people rather than the distant shareholders.”

Lucas raised concerns about the ownership of the UK water industry and stated: “Ultimately, 72% of water companies in the UK are owned by foreign entities.”

He added: “The UK has the most privatised water industry in the world.”

Lucas stated that the current privatised water model needs to be ended and that water companies should be held legally accountable for the damage they have caused.

He said: “Until that happens water companies will continue to be concerned about profits and shareholders rather than reducing the amount of sewage in the UK waters.”

“Water companies throughout the year, not just when it's raining, are pumping sewage into our waters”

“We want tough independent regulators to ensure that pollutants like the water companies play for the damage they are causing.”

He added: “We want to see the government protect the health of all using the water and make water companies like South West Water legally accountable for the harm they are causing.”

The mass lobby that Lucas is taking part in comes at a crucial moment, following the introduction of the Clean Water Bill in May this year.

Campaigners say that Parliament now has a rare opportunity to end the failed water system rather than protecting the water companies and shareholders.

Giles Bristow, Chief Executive of Surfers Against Sewage, said: “The Clean Water Bill is our moment to fix the broken water system for good.”

“MPs have the power to fix this Bill, which as it stands is set to protect the privatised water industry.”

“They work for us, not the water companies, so we need them to hear our demands loud and clear.”

Lucas reiterated this and stated: “We need to come together as a community and realise that we won't stand for the places we love being polluted.”

“We can make a powerful difference and can hold the powerful people to account for their actions.”

As he meets with Martin Wrigley, Lucas hopes his message will help drive meaningful change.

He also encourages other young people to speak up, reminding them that their voices have the power to make a real difference.