Cleaning out a brook

[Surgery]

We suffer bad from a brook busting out onto farm land , hedges etc are all on our neighbours who whilst we get on with don’t like spending money on something that doesn’t effect them.

spoke to one the other day and he starts going on about environment agency etc , do we need to contact them regarding Ditching the brook out and if so can someone point us in the right direction on the EA page , thanks

 

[Nearly]

I think I speak for the TFF massive.
JFDI

 

[Surgery]

I think I speak for the TFF massive.
JFDI

Just what I would do , it’s the pathetic neighbours who’s it’s to do that don’t get flooded , I will dig it but want them to clear willows etc out.

 

[Bruce Almighty]

Get on and do it
We recently had the council check / jet all the road drains after recent flooding and they told us it our responsibilty for the ditches to be clear. Ditches lead to the brook which we also need to keep clear so the road can drain properly

 

[Poncherello1976]

We have just had a clear out in our village of the brook, before the weekend luckily. The plan was to go in with our telehandler and get all the weed in to the bucket. Someone from the village had better ideas though and contacted the EA. Forms to fill in, permits to get which cost money and you may not be granted. Had a Saturday morning with a few of us and pulled the weed out by hand. Said person never showed their face on the day! If you can just get on with it!

 

[teslacoils]

. Someone from the village had better ideas though and contacted the EA.

There's always one putting the pansy in countryside isn't there.

 

[wanton dwarf]

Just do it .. make sure you are wearing your face bandana ! .. wasn't me guv

 

[Exfarmer]

We suffer bad from a brook busting out onto farm land , hedges etc are all on our neighbours who whilst we get on with don’t like spending money on something that doesn’t effect them.

spoke to one the other day and he starts going on about environment agency etc , do we need to contact them regarding Ditching the brook out and if so can someone point us in the right direction on the EA page , thanks

Some of my neighbours are keen on clearing out our local river, but that is the problem, it is a river which desperately needs dredging, a long reach could do it.
The issue though is that I would think we have 20-30 riparian owners along side and one is a Barrister, a decent chap and I think he would come on board but he does own probably 500 yards of bank.
The bigger issue though is that we have several owners , myself included whose bank is garden, I was aware of possible issues however many have spent a lot on expensive landscaping and several have levelled out their gardens to the river , at great cost and placed decking etc. on the banks.
meanwhile on the other side is an old dear with a large number of willow trees which are falling everywhere especially into the river, and I am certain she will be far more interested in the wildlife short term rather than the long term death of the river.
Because it is dying it has become choked with weed and now all summer long there has been a complete carpet of duckweed which has starved the fish of Oxygen and I wonder if any are left. This carpet has been so extreme that we have had several pigeons land on it thinking it is edible, I do not mourn their drowning
I will be shocked if we can get a quarter to agree to any work, and even then, it would of course require EA approval even if it is their responsibility to do in the first place.

 

[PSQ]

I think I speak for the TFF massive.
JFDI

JFDI - on a Saturday and Sunday, when there's no-one manning the EA's phone line...

 

[farmerm]

EA might order it to stay as it is to reduce flow and flooding downstream

 

[britt]

You don't need to dredge a whole brook to clear it.
Dig out a sump in an easily accessible place where the silt can collect, clear any debris in the main channel and the water will do the work for you.
Clean out the sump once a year and keep the main channel clear of weed, branches etc. You may need a number of sumps depending on the length and corners involved.
This method may be slow to solve a problem but great for keeping a brook flowing freely, has a very low environmental impact and very few folks will even notice what you are doing.
Give the water somewhere to go and it will shift the silt for you.

 

[Hooby Farmer]

If you are away from a main road jfdi.
The EA/rivers agency aren't fit to lace my boots. Im the closest the farm to a main course in Northern Ireland. Yet I have letters from them saying I'm not a flood risk, any mention of clearing silt or debris is shot down and they hide behind legislation on why they cannot do anything.

 

[deleted user 837354]

There really are some twits about. Anyone living in a village who objects to JFDI schemes deserves nothing but complete scorn and a slap in the chops with a kipper for good measure.

 

[rob1]

Some of my neighbours are keen on clearing out our local river, but that is the problem, it is a river which desperately needs dredging, a long reach could do it.
The issue though is that I would think we have 20-30 riparian owners along side and one is a Barrister, a decent chap and I think he would come on board but he does own probably 500 yards of bank.
The bigger issue though is that we have several owners , myself included whose bank is garden, I was aware of possible issues however many have spent a lot on expensive landscaping and several have levelled out their gardens to the river , at great cost and placed decking etc. on the banks.
meanwhile on the other side is an old dear with a large number of willow trees which are falling everywhere especially into the river, and I am certain she will be far more interested in the wildlife short term rather than the long term death of the river.
Because it is dying it has become choked with weed and now all summer long there has been a complete carpet of duckweed which has starved the fish of Oxygen and I wonder if any are left. This carpet has been so extreme that we have had several pigeons land on it thinking it is edible, I do not mourn their drowning
I will be shocked if we can get a quarter to agree to any work, and even then, it would of course require EA approval even if it is their responsibility to do in the first place.

can you hire a smal barge with a digger on simiar to the ones they do canals with and do it "in the river" ?

 

[Wombat]

JFDI - on a Saturday and Sunday, when there's no-one manning the EA's phone line...

Pop on some hi vis and a hard hat and have a couple of mates round dressed the same and no one will even care

 

[Kidds]

From experience I am firmly in the JFDI camp. I have done it, several times and nobody ever said anything.

 

[britt]

You don't need to dredge a whole brook to clear it.
Dig out a sump in an easily accessible place where the silt can collect, clear any debris in the main channel and the water will do the work for you.
Clean out the sump once a year and keep the main channel clear of weed, branches etc. You may need a number of sumps depending on the length and corners involved.
This method may be slow to solve a problem but great for keeping a brook flowing freely, has a very low environmental impact and very few folks will even notice what you are doing.
Give the water somewhere to go and it will shift the silt for you.

I forgot to say that you don't even need a digger, just scoop it out with the telehandler.
The kingfishers love them too !

 

[Dry Rot]

Heard this story second hand. A tree had fallen in the river blocking a culvert. Farmer was all set up to pull the tree out with his tractor. Job'sworths heard of it and stopped it happening. Must be left to the correct authorities as per the regulations. More water came down from the hills bringing debris with it, culvert now well and truly blocked, river over flowed causing the town to flood. JFDI

 

[neilo]

JFDI. However, be aware that EA can insist on the stream being put back as it was, or do it at your cost, with nicely profiled banks, etc.

 

[Red Fred]

There really are some twits about. Anyone living in a village who objects to JFDI schemes deserves nothing but complete scorn and a slap in the chops with a kipper for good measure.

Just been reading the Wimborne Facebook page, and someone has had the audacity to "cut down" (not uproot) a willow tree on the side of the stream. Cue 100 comments from angry residents exchanging EA emergency numbers, who to tell at the council, "How could anyone destroy this poor historic tree", etc etc. The mind boggles.