PARRETT DRAINAGE BOARD Part of the SOMERSET DRAINAGE BOARDS CONSORTIUM Protecting property, land and the environment April 2010 Issue 4 NEWS IMPROVEMENTS TO STRUCTURES We have recently secured grant aid funding towards the cost of improving or replacing water control structures that are unsafe or difficult to operate and achieve the required water levels. This will help us to continue our programme of improvement works over the next five years. FAVOURABLE CONDITIONS PROJECTS We have recently completed Favourable Conditions Schemes at Southlake and Pawlett Hams, and Southlake trialled their winter water level management successfully. We have Photo Courtesy of Thomas Photography Group now secured grant aid funding to begin building schemes at Wet Moor, AMALGAMATION MEMBERSHIP Moorlinch, Kings Sedgemoor, North (All elected members are unpaid volunteers) Moor, West Sedgemoor, Catcott In April 2011 the Lower Axe, Upper Chilton and Edington, Tealham and Axe, Lower Brue and Upper Brue District Member Tadham and Westhay moor. Work Drainage Boards are proposing to Aller Moor P Maltby will start on site this summer and will amalgamate to form a new large Bridgwater & M Young be phased over the next three years. Board called the Axe Brue Drainage Pawlett W Barnard These schemes will bring about Board. It is planned that the new Cannington & R Marchent improvements in the Water Level amalgamated Board will work Wembdon A Rowe Management infrastructure to enable together within a new Somerset A Sparkes improved water level management for Drainage Boards Consortium to Chedzoy R Roberts the interests in these areas. If you live provide more effective and improved Curry Moor S Gothard in one of these areas where schemes services for the rate payers, local Dunster A Case are proposed we will be contacting residents and businesses across all Kings A Bradford you later this spring/summer of the Somerset lowlands. If you wish Sedgemoor B Bryer regarding our proposed programme to obtain further information on these D Vigar of works. proposals please look at our website Langport J Lock or contact the Clerk in the Highbridge R England offices. R Coombes North Moor M Bere EXPENDITURE J Winslade The Board has resolved to set a rate OMW M Winslade MBE in the pound of 6.155p for the current C J Betty financial year. The Board has four Stanmoor P House principal areas of expense. Stockland C Passmore West D Perrin Sedgemoor G Theed • Channel maintenance • New works and improvements Appointed Members: • Contributions to the EA • R Archer, D Alder, A Bradford, K Administration costs Dyer, A Fraser, A Gilling, P Gooding, S Kingham, J Healey, D House, N This year the Board will maintain Jones, B Leaker, R Mills, C Morgan, approximately 507,000m (317miles) P Palmer, S Parker, A Reid, R Roe, of watercourse as part of the annual D Spicer, J Taylor, R Triggol Burrow Mump cleaning programme. Contact Details: 1 Church Street, Highbridge, Somerset, TA9 3AE. Tel: 01278 789906 Fax: 01278 793443 Email: [email protected] Website: www.somersetdrainageboards.gov.uk LAND DRAINAGE CONSENT manage livestock when the rhyne TREE MAINTENANCE Required for Work on or adjacent maintenance is being carried out to to all watercourses prevent the animals eating any Where people own land that adjoins a poisonous plants. The IDB would watercourse they are known as The Board has jurisdiction over all therefore advise that your animals are riparian owners and own the land to watercourses within the Board’s moved away from places where these the centre line of the channel (except district (with the exception of weeds are a problem or to erect an in some rare instances which may be Statutory Main River which is under electric fence to keep them away from detailed in your deeds). Riparian the authority of the Environment the cut plants. owners have rights and Agency). In the interests of protecting responsibilities to maintain flow along the drainage network, the Board has INVASIVE SPECIES the watercourse, which includes now adopted the policy of applying cutting back hedges and managing the requirements of the Land The Drainage Boards are continuing trees to prevent them falling into the Drainage Act 1991 and the Byelaws to monitor and control known channel. For the Drainage Board to to all water courses within the Boards outbreaks of Japanese Knotweed, be able to effectively maintain the district. This means that you must Floating Pennywort and Parrots Viewed Rhyne network we expect the apply for Land Drainage Consent Feather. In 2009, two new invasive landowners to keep the channels from the Board for any work you plants, Water Lettuce and Water clear of overhanging vegetation so intend to carry out in, under, over or Hyacinth, were discovered on the that there is room for the machinery within 9 metres of any watercourse Bridgwater and Taunton Canal and to clean the annual weed growth and (except Main River). on the Kings Sedgemoor Drain. It is silt from the channel itself. likely that the plants came from a OPERATION OF WATER CONTROL private pond and were dumped into FLYTIPPING STRUCTURES the watercourse rather than being spread by natural means. As there are more regulations and There are many water control costs to dispose of unwanted waste it structures across the area and many Although the plants had not spread to often ends up on droves or in the of these are operated under the direct any IDB watercourses, they still watercourses which is an eyesore for supervision of the Board. If you represent a potential problem for the everybody. Riparian owners have a experience problems as a result of Boards as both plants are commonly duty to keep their channels clear – these operations please contact the sold in garden centres. They grow even though they have not thrown the Board offices for assistance before extremely rapidly and are able to re- rubbish in. On Viewed Rhynes we operating or adjusting the structure grow from small fragments of root. work with the Local Councils by lifting yourself. This will help us to balance the offending waste out of the the needs of the area better. If you fail Drainage Board officers are channel and putting it onto the verge to do so you may cause problems for continually looking out for new where the Council has access and other people and be in contravention outbreaks and, if you spot an unusual will come and clear it away. If you of the Boards Byelaws. plant which spreads quickly or looks spot any flytipped waste you can call like those shown below, please the District Councils and report the POISONOUS PLANTS contact the IDB or the Environment incident. The quicker it is removed, Agency for advice. the less chance there is of it being Within the UK there are many native thrown into the channel or attracting plants which are poisonous to more waste. animals and farmers have passed on this knowledge from one generation ENQUIRIES to another. This knowledge has For general enquiries please call – protected their animals from the 01278 789906 effects of these plants e.g. privet, (09.00hrs – 17.00hrs Mon-Fri) yew, ragwort etc. Since drainage Or Visit- improvements to watercourses have www.somersetdrainageboards.gov.uk been carried out by man there has For enquires please contact: been a need to keep the channels Clerk/Legal: Nick Stevens clear of weeds which obstruct the Water Hyacinth Engineering: Iain Sturdy/Phil flow. This has given rise to problems Ham of cutting bankside vegetation so that Finance: Stephen Gee animals have access to eat the Environment: Phil Brewin plants. Anne Halpin Rate Collection: Gill Cornish One very common plant is Hemlock Kendra Kingston Water Dropwort (Oenanthe Crocata) Expenditors: and looks like cow’s parsley but has Mark Hill poisonous roots; these are white Alan House (B&P) tubers which look like “dead man’s M Phillips (KS&CV, Chedzoy) fingers” – hence the common name Water Lettuce Mike Snook (C&W, STK) for the plant. It is important to Joy Thorne (Lang & W Sedge) Contact Details: 1 Church Street, Highbridge, Somerset, TA9 3AE. Tel: 01278 789906 Fax: 01278 793443 Email: [email protected] Website: www.somersetdrainageboards.gov.uk .