Rewetting - What it really means.

[DrWazzock]

I’m next door to a rewetting project that’s a combined effort or “non effort” between the Forestry Commission, Natural England and the Wolds Chalk Stream project or something like that.
And I’m fairly angry about it as fetid stinking water is sometimes pouring across their plantations onto the lower end of my arable land that adjoins them, destroying crops there.
The reality of rewetting (not getting off your arse to clean your dykes out) is not some kind of paradise for nature, it’s a stinking fetid morass of black sludgy rotting vegetation and trees dying and getting blowing over because they are waterlogged and surface water flowing over wide areas (not soaking in as the ground is saturated) and becoming a nuisance to all around these so called projects. This is the future defined by these eco Conservatives and their army of civil service minions. Fetid oxygenless swamps of anaerobically decaying rotting vegetation good for man nor beast.
Rant over.

 

[Wood field]

I’m next door to a rewetting project that’s a combined effort or “non effort” between the Forestry Commission, Natural England and the Wolds Chalk Stream project or something like that.
And I’m fairly angry about it as fetid stinking water is sometimes pouring across their plantations onto the lower end of my arable land that adjoins them, destroying crops there.
The reality of rewetting (not getting off your arse to clean your dykes out) is not some kind of paradise for nature, it’s a stinking fetid morass of black sludgy rotting vegetation and trees dying and getting blowing over because they are waterlogged and surface water flowing over wide areas (not soaking in as the ground is saturated) and becoming a nuisance to all around these so called projects. This is the future defined by these eco Conservatives and their army of civil service minions. Fetid oxygenless swamps of anaerobically decaying rotting vegetation good for man nor beast.
Rant over.

And all that methane … no wait sorry that’s the cows

 

[farmerm]

I’m next door to a rewetting project that’s a combined effort or “non effort” between the Forestry Commission, Natural England and the Wolds Chalk Stream project or something like that.
And I’m fairly angry about it as fetid stinking water is sometimes pouring across their plantations onto the lower end of my arable land that adjoins them, destroying crops there.
The reality of rewetting (not getting off your arse to clean your dykes out) is not some kind of paradise for nature, it’s a stinking fetid morass of black sludgy rotting vegetation and trees dying and getting blowing over because they are waterlogged and surface water flowing over wide areas (not soaking in as the ground is saturated) and becoming a nuisance to all around these so called projects. This is the future defined by these eco Conservatives and their army of civil service minions. Fetid oxygenless swamps of anaerobically decaying rotting vegetation good for man nor beast.
Rant over.

I hope they are buying up carbon credits for all that extra methane they are responsible for creating!

 

[Kevtherev]

Disease and contamination of water supplies just round the corner…

 

[egbert]

It's all part of the new religion.
'nature is best, natural solutions will fix everything we've fecked up'.

and it is horse poop of the highest order.

 

[DrWazzock]

And just to be clear, there’s no storage capacity in their saturated soils, no flow buffering. They are full to capacity. In 40 years I have never seen so much uncontrolled flow backing up onto our land. It’s spills out of every low point along our boundary fence. It’s raised the water table to ground level at our lower end. It’s difficult to keep our outfalls clear and stable as the ground around them is now a just a sloppy mess.

 

[DrWazzock]

I wouldn’t even have thought that widescale submersion will do the hibernating wildlife, frogs, roads, snakes, lizard, small rodents, insects etc much good either. But what do I know?

 

[DrWazzock]

I suppose if we were financially astute and couldn’t give one we’d also enter our farm into that kind of scheme and just sit back and take the money. But where will it end. That would degrade our upstream neighbours drainage and on it goes. And more and more public money spent for nothing but degradation of assets as far as I can see?
I really feel like we are fighting the tide though,
literally. Nobody in government or any of their agencies actually cares.

 

[serf]

I wouldn’t even have thought that widescale submersion will do the hibernating wildlife, frogs, roads, snakes, lizard, small rodents, insects etc much good either. But what do I know?

I think it's good for black & white foxes tho...

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

Aye they upstream or downstream of you?

You might have a strong legal claim if they are preventing you from protecting your land against flooding.....

 

[Dry Rot]

It used to be possible (in Scotland, at least) to serve a notice on a neighbour who was causing ditches to back up under the Land Drainage (Scotland) Act 1930. That worked. Then that was repealed and a landowner had a duty to clean ditches if he wanted to receive the Single Farm Payment. Then that changed. Now Rural Payments Inspections Division (RPID - who hand out the cash) tell you to ask your neighbour nicely, speak to your local council, write to your MP etc. The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA but similar to EA down south) who one would assume have the job of protecting the environment do pretty much the same. Hopefully, these people read TFF. It seems all we can do meantime is to point out that the lack of efficient drainage is killing wild life. Oh, I don't mean just the badgers and otters and cuddly things but the micro organisms that work at keeping soils as a living breathing medium for the fundamentals of "wild life" to exist. If they bothered to look, moorlands and bogs are only supporting wild life on the dry bits above the water table!

 

[holwellcourtfarm]

It used to be possible (in Scotland, at least) to serve a notice on a neighbour who was causing ditches to back up under the Land Drainage (Scotland) Act 1930. That worked. Then that was repealed and a landowner had a duty to clean ditches if he wanted to receive the Single Farm Payment. Then that changed. Now Rural Payments Inspections Division (RPID - who hand out the cash) tell you to ask your neighbour nicely, speak to your local council, write to your MP etc. The Scottish Environmental Protection Agency (SEPA but similar to EA down south) who one would assume have the job of protecting the environment do pretty much the same. Hopefully, these people read TFF. It seems all we can do meantime is to point out that the lack of efficient drainage is killing wild life. Oh, I don't mean just the badgers and otters and cuddly things but the micro organisms that work at keeping soils as a living breathing medium for the fundamentals of "wild life" to exist. If they bothered to look, moorlands and bogs are only supporting wild life on the dry bits above the water table!

Wouldn't stop you suing for nuisance (and citing the past laws you quote above to support your case)

 

[DrWazzock]

Aye they upstream or downstream of you?

You might have a strong legal claim if they are preventing you from protecting your land against flooding.....

They are downstream. They did apply for planning permission for the scheme to block off watercourses etc. I did not object at the time as there is considerable fall from us to them and the proposed extent of the wetting didn’t extend as far as our boundary …. but with this exceptionally long wet spell it does now!
I would not even say that they have made active efforts to block the watercourses, it’s just 40 years of neglect that has now been legitimised by planning permission. In the past we have been granted access to enter their land and clean out their ditches for them to keep our outflow from backing up but with widespread flooding of their land now and a host of clipboards and regulations I can’t see us being allowed to do that, never mind the fact we don’t want the cost. We were never paid for doing it in the past as it was “for our benefit” and done with unofficial local agreement with the forester who was a reasonable man. Those days are long gone.

 

[DrWazzock]

Would it still be the case that they have a legal duty to keep our drainage water from backing up onto our property?

 

[DrWazzock]

One particularly bad bit is a 6 inch pipe that runs through a plantation to a watercourse. It’s completely blocked and bubbling up in our boundary. It’s a legacy from when the estate was sold off, some bought by the commission, some bought for continued farming. I’m not saying it’s a disaster yet but if this kind of wet weather is to become the norm then it could get difficult for us with this kind of scheme next door.
I’d urge anybody who had proposals for this kind of thing adjacent to them to scrutinise it at the planning stage and get an objection in early. Wish I had.

 

[Billboy1]

It’s time someone stood up and put a stop to all this crap !

 

[Dry Rot]

Wouldn't stop you suing for nuisance (and citing the past laws you quote above to support your case)

The fact that I'm the little guy and trying to fight the big boys might though! I am a great believer that the pen is mightier than the sword. Remember the Roman senator who concluded every speech with the words, "...and Carthage should be burned"? They did, eventually.

 

[DrWazzock]

Well I suppose I’ll have to negotiate with them. I’m a live and let live kind of bloke and if they want to turn the forest enterprise into a swamp then I’m not bothered …. as long as they’ll keep the first 50 yards of watercourses that runs into there clear to keep our outfalls running and water table down. After that they can do as they like though I hardly think they are serving the publics or anybody else’s interests by “letting it go”.

 

[Exfarmer]

I think our biggest hope is that our native mosquito population become infected with Malaria. used to be a common complaint in the past in the UK but everyone has forgotten this killer from the hot climates. it is not just hot climates it was common here until the marshes were drained.

 

[Welderloon]

The first entitled politicians child who contracts malaria, Weils disease or Lyme disease from this nonsense will hopefully ensure a swift end to it all.............................its just a matter of time.