Overview

• Test Valley Borough Council voted unanimously on July 30, 2025 to grant the River Test legal personhood, recognizing its intrinsic rights to flow, ecosystem functions and freedom from pollution.
• Under the new status, the river gains authority to sue individuals or companies that harm its quality or impede its natural flow.
• Council members pledged to integrate the river’s rights into planning, development and biodiversity policies to guide future land-use decisions.
• Elected officials promised support for citizen-led monitoring efforts and will request an annual national “state of the rivers” report to track progress.
• The initiative follows rights-of-nature precedents such as New Zealand’s 2017 Whanganui River and recent UK motions for the Rivers Ouse and Loddon championed by groups like the Earth Law Center.