A project to restore
part of the South Winterborne stream to
its original course has now been completed
as part of the work of the Dorset Winterbourne
Project.
A project to restore
part of the South Winterborne stream to
its original course has now been completed
as part of the work of the Dorset Winterbourne
Project.
The South Winterborne
at Came Farm Dairy was identified in a report
by the River Restoration Centre as having
good potential for restoration, which could
improve the value of the site for biodiversity.
The work recreated the original route by
excavating a new channel and re-profiling
the existing one.
'The river at Winterborne
Came had been moved to run along a straight
course, so it was much deeper than would
occur naturally, and had steep sides. Surveys
showed that important wetland species such
as water vole and amphibians were not using
the site,' said Sarah Guest for the Environment
Agency.
'The restored route
of the winterbourne returns it to a more
natural course and profile – the sides have
more shallow slopes and the route meanders,
creating 400m of important chalk stream
habitat. 350m of the former straight watercourse
has been re-profiled so that the sides are
more gently sloped and provide a diverse
habitat for wildlife.'
The work was carried
out when the course of the winterbourne
was dry and to minimise disturbance to wildlife.
‘We are very grateful
to the landowner who was fully behind the
project and it has been fabulous to be involved
with the actual digging of the new more
natural channel, allowing wildlife to move
back into such a rare habitat,’ said Sarah
Williams, Chalk Stream Conservation Officer
for Dorset Wildlife Trust.
Winterbournes are rare
chalk streams which are groundwater fed
and only flow at certain times of year as
groundwater levels in the aquifer fluctuate.
They support a range of specialist wildlife
adapted to this unusual flow regime, including
a number of rare or scarce invertebrates,
otter and water vole. Chalk rivers are an
irreplaceable part of the landscape of southern
England.
'We will be carrying
out surveys following the work to assess
the impact on biodiversity – it is hoped
that some of the rare mayflies that occur
elsewhere in the South Winterborne may move
into the restored river,' said Alison Turnock,
Dorset AONB Biodiversity Officer.
They are a priority
habitat under the European Habitats Directive
and UK Biodiversity Action Plan. The majority
of England's chalk rivers are not protected
by European and national conservation designations
and these often forgotten ‘Cinderella’ chalk
rivers are under considerable environmental
pressure from abstraction, urban and infrastructure
development, effluent discharges, agriculture,
land drainage and flood defences.
The Dorset Winterbourne
Project is led by the Dorset AONB Partnership,
which includes the Environment Agency, Wessex
Water, Natural England, Dorset Wildlife
Trust, Farming & Wildlife Advisory Group,
Dorset County Council and North Dorset District
Council. It aims to conserve and enhance
rare winterbourne streams and their associated
heritage. Funding was secured from the Environment
Agency and from the Weymouth Relief Road
environmental enhancement section 106 grant.
+ More
Serving up environmental
protection for Christmas dinner
Businesses processing
vegetables for our Christmas dinners and
other food and drink processors are being
checked by Environment Agency officers
Businesses processing
vegetables for our Christmas dinners and
other food and drink processors are being
checked by Environment Agency officers to
make sure that they are protecting our environment
from pollution at the same time as serving
up festive fare.
Some of the many food
and drink processors operating in Cambridgeshire,
Norfolk and Lincolnshire are being visited
by the Environment Agency to make sure that
any waste they produce is properly dealt
with and that their sites have good measures
in place to prevent any potential pollution
problems happening.
Environment Officer
Eileen Daly said: ‘Of the sites we’ve visited
so far we’ve seen some great examples of
good practice, but we are also finding places
where we’d like businesses to make some
improvements to protect our environment
better.
‘We’d like their resolution
for the New Year to be that they check the
waste carrier licences of people they employ
to take their waste away and what is going
to happen to it after it has been removed
from their site. There are illegal waste
operators in this area and the best way
of putting them out of business is to stop
using them.’
Around 45 of the medium
to large businesses processing food and
drink ranging from root vegetable washing
and processing, to salad preparation, ready
meal preparation, meat processing and confectionary
production are being visited by the Environment
Agency.
The businesses have
a legal obligation to ensure that anyone
they employ to dispose of or recycle their
food or liquid waste is doing so properly.
They also need to make sure that they have
proper procedures and measures in place
in case there is an accident or spillage
on site that could result in pollution if
not correctly handled.
Environment Agency officers
from around the region are joining forces
to undertake the checks. The officers carry
out a thorough inspection of the site and
check procedures mostly on waste storage,
handling and disposal, to check that wastes
are being disposed of and recycled legally.
They also give advice on complying with
relevant legislation and the best way to
handle issues such as site drainage and
storage of oil and chemicals to avoid any
risk to the environment.
