Brook meeting: Lawns latest and more

A log fire and exceedingly good seriously chocolatey biscuits - who wouldn't want to be at a Ruscombe brook Action Group meeting this evening. Some of the issues covered included:

Photo: me at brook at Hamwell Leaze

- feedback from the talks at Randwick Village Hall by Simon Charter and Julian Jones (see last blog item for 26th April for details of teh fascinating talk),
- an update on the Lawns - 1000 reeds planted (see below),
- a discussion re SUDS correspondence and how best to proceed (see 17th April blog for latest letters),
- an update on the RBAG website which now has most of the info replaced but is still difficult to navigate and find important info (any offers out there to help us?),
- the Memo of Cooperation - this is a loose agreement to get various parties to work together better - it has now gone out to District Council and will probably go to Cabinet in July for official approval - I'll be sending out more widely to other parties - more info on this in a future post,
- the Scoping exercise - this has begun with Water 21 and MSc student Ismaila - they are meeting weekly (see my blogs on 9th and 12th April) and we had a discussion about how best to further consult with the local community over any draft plans,
- Severn Trent and RBAG joint leaflet looking at issues in the valley - at last being finalised - should be printed soon then we want help delivering it to some 2000 plus homes!!
- Cattle - a farmer has now done works to significantly reduce cattle poaching,
- Bill Blake a former Environment Officer noted that the latest news from EU courts is that unconsented sewage discharges can now face prosecution - hopefully more on this very soon.

Latest on the Lawns

Photos: murky shallow water of the Lawns last year before work started and below three photos from Trwo magazine of BTCV volunteers collecting hazel from Siccaridge woods as a good supply of faggots plus photo of the dredging.

This below is the response from the Engineer (Cotswold Canals, British Waterways) to my email welcoming the work there and pointing out that the final scheme at the Lawns does not match the planned scheme they had negotiated with various community groups. The reasons given make the situation much clearer and it is very positive that this project has gone ahead - although as noted before it would have been good to have done work further up the brook first as advised by various water experts present at the last big meeting with British Waterways. However hopefully we will be able to tackle that now.

I am glad to hear that you that you have the services of an MSc student to assist you in progressing your study into issues along the length of the Brook, and that you are happy to see progress at the Lawns.

As you have observed, having worked with volunteers from the British Trust for Conservation Volunteers (BTCV) to clear the laurels which were overshadowing the east side of pond in November, we then carried out the main works at the Lawns Pond in December. These works included a fish rescue (to prevent any fish in the pond being affected by the disturbance of the silt), some further tree works, dredging, including the removal of several fallen branches and one complete fallen tree, excavation of the overgrown area in the north east corner to become a reed bed, and installation of a barrier to retain the reed bed. The material removed was spread on the north west area of the pond and is regenerating naturally with vegetation now that spring brings fresh growth to the whole site. BTCV were also involved in the works by coppicing the hazel used in the barrier from a local Gloucestershire Wildlife Trust woodland.

BTCV volunteers returned to the site on 16th May and planted 1000 plants in the area cleared for the reed bed. These plants are currently fresh from the nursery, but will, given time, grow and spread. During these works, and on visits to the site for surveys, BW have removed a large quantity of debris from the pond and around the weir crest, including a pallet, plastic buckets, a road cone, plastic bags, bottles and other litter.

As you have noted, although the tree works and planting have been as planned, the dredging works undertaken were not exactly the same as those originally discussed. We had originally planned to deposit silt behind a hazel barrier along the eastern bank of the pond, with an additional area to the north east to also potentially be used dependent on the volume of material extracted and the bulking/slump factors.

After the initial discussions, further investigation in the pond and discussions with the contractor led to changes to the planned dredging works. The firm bed of the pond fell more sharply away from the eastern bank than anticipated in places, making the installation of the hazel barrier along this eastern edge less practicable. Having cleared the laurels and been able to assess the clearance between, and importantly beneath, the remaining trees more clearly, it was decided that the very long reach machines (around 17m reach) desirable to reach significantly beyond the planned retaining barrier would be impracticable. It was therefore decided to dredge as far from the bank as possible with a more modest long reach machine (13.5m reach was used, which had clearance for the knuckle beneath the remaining trees), and to deposit this material on the area to the north west of the pond, originally identified as a back-up deposition area. It was decided in the interests of the overall impact of the works on the site that it would not be beneficial to bring the excavator through to the southern bank as the disturbance caused would outweigh the benefit gained from the dredging as this area was found to already be quite deep when the pond was drained. The very heavily silted and overgrown area to the north east of the pond was excavated as planned, and an informal silt trap has been dug at the inlet to the pond, which can be accessed for routine maintenance by conventional plant.

The works, including the changes discussed above, were agreed with Andy Read of the SCLT, and the information we have gathered in doing the work is to be passed to him in a post-contract health and safety file to assist the SCLT with future maintenance.

Although slightly different to the plans we originally tabled, the works have fulfilled the aims of the project in terms of improving the amenity value of the site and the excavation of an area subsequently planted as a reed bed. Sight lines around the pond have been improved, there are fewer plants overhanging and dropping leaves into the pond and there is more light penetrating to the pond and surrounding areas which will reduce the dominance of tall trees and allow a wider variety of species to thrive.

We hope that you would agree that the Lawns site is much improved following these works and wish you all the best for your future work in improving the Brook.