Head Office Press Office
- 10-Aug-2007 - In a press release issued
by the Environment Agency on Friday 21 April
2006, it was wrongly stated that Jon Wall
Fisheries Limited deliberately attempted to
deceive the Environment Agency by supplying
false information to obtain consents to stock
fish.
Whilst Jon Wall Fisheries Limited pleaded
guilty to two offences of introducing fish
without a consent contrary to Section 30 of
the Salmon and Freshwater Fisheries Act 1975,
the Court was informed that it was a technical
offence by the Company who had inserted the
wrong reference number on the applications
for the S.30 consent.
There was no evidence of fish deaths or disease
as a result of these stockings.
We are happy to correct this error and wish
to apologise to Mr Wall and Jon Wall Fisheries
Limited for any embarrassment caused by our
press release.
Environment Agency responds to Aire catchment
concerns
Alexandra Wales - 9-Aug-2007 - The Environment
Agency has completed a three month consultation,
and received over 45 comments on a draft plan
to manage flooding on the River Aire catchment.
Officers at the Environment Agency have drawn
up a draft Catchment Flood Management Plan
(CFMP) for the Aire, from the river’s source
near Malham in the Yorkshire Dales to Goole
in the east.
Residents living in the river catchment were
urged to have their say on the draft plan
which aims to determine the most appropriate
and sustainable ways to tackle flooding in
their area over the next 50 to100 years.
A changing climate, changes in land use and
pressure to build more homes in the catchment,
means that we need to plan to prepare for
an increased risk of flooding. CFMPs provide
an understanding of flood risk today, how
it could change in the future and how these
risks can be managed.
The Environment Agency is working with the
public and its partners so that it can understand
local concerns and take account of local knowledge
to plan and manage flood risks.
Project manager Neil Ryan said: “Concerns
were raised during consultation on the CFMP
that plans for flood water storage in the
downstream reaches of the Aire catchment would
increase flooding locally for the benefit
of towns and cities upstream.
“We would assure communities along the river
that it is not our intention to increase the
risk of flooding to people, property and infrastructure.
We must find the best solution and most economic
way of managing flood risk, and maintain our
current defences to bring the greatest benefit
for people in the area.
“We will consider the catchment as a whole
to see how we can manage floodwater along
the river with the smallest possible impact.
This may involve holding floodwater on the
natural floodplain where there are no properties,
so that flood risk can be reduced in our downstream
towns and villages.
“In recent years we have invested around
£7 million improving defences in the
Lower Aire in places such as Gowdall, Knottingley,
Beal, Rawcliffe, and Snaith and we continue
to invest around £135,000 per year in
routine maintenance in the Aire catchment.”
In the responses, many people have also asked
why the Environment Agency does not dredge
the river so that it can take higher flows
which would prevent or reduce flooding.
“Dredging of the river would not prevent
flooding from happening,” continues Neil.
“The volumes of water that are present during
a flood in the lower Aire are far greater
than any increase in channel capacity that
could be achieved by river dredging.”
The greater use of flood plains is highlighted
in the Government strategy, ‘Making Space
for Water’, published by the Department for
Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra)
in which it is recognised that we must learn
to live with rivers rather than continually
seeking to control and constrain them.
The Aire CFMP is still in development and
over the coming months officers will be taking
all of the responses into consideration to
amend the plan before being finalised. Once
published the plan will be comprehensively
reviewed every six years.
The Aire CFMP is one of 76 that are being
prepared for the major river catchments across
England and Wales. It is anticipated that
all CFMPs will be published by December 2008.
