bank-side vegetation

[Guest kelvin wood]

well,i have just started to bait up some swims on the wye peady for the 16th and guess what?The enviroment agency have cut down all the overhanging bushes and trees so that the river doesnt lok "unsightly2 for tourists,ehat about the people who pay theyre wages!

[Guest Badger]

Kelvin,

The EA have a tendancy to do stuff like that. They have recently removed loads of trees and bushes on my local stretch of the River Wey. Their reasons in this case were valid as far as they were concerned, removing obstacles that were restricting the flow or destabilising the banks. What they don't seem to understand is that there are reasons for not removing such features. they are obviously ggod spots for fisheries as they provide shelter from the flow (esp in flood conditions) they habour many freshwater invertibrates as well as providing a necessary resource in terms of suitable spawning areas for fish.

Going back to what you were saying though, i agree that sometimes fisheries management leaves a lot to be desired. On a local pond owned by the National Trust all tress and other vegetation was taken out some years ago. The place now resembles a suburban park more than the nature conservation area it is designed to be!! Some of the decisions taken seem absolutely absurd, for example residents of a nearby "luxury apartment block" (a former mill building) complained to the NT about restricted views of the water due to the growth of bankside Willows. Well you can guess what they did can't you? Yep, "pollarded" the lot. Nice work NT. Its good to see that our heritage is guarded by such a caring, sensible organisation that is not swayed by public opinion but by the needs of the land they are seekig to protect.

Has anyone else had any experience of this kind of thing??

cheers

Dave.

[Guest Jonty]

Isn't there some sort of a rule which says that the EA can only carry out this sort of work after due consultation with the owners/users of the water ??

 

And just imagine how tee'd-off the EA guys would be if those people proceeded to discuss the merits of carrying-out (or not) the proposed bankside works one tree, bush, willow or alder sapling at a time ??

 

I know that I would soon begin to think about abandoning any ideas about `bankside improvements` !!

[Guest RobStubbs]

Jonty,

I too thought the EA and NT couldn't just act as they wanted. Probably the only people able to advise would be the ACA, they have their own full time lawyer now how should be familiar with what can & can't be done.

 

Rob.