We are devoting space to this topic this month because we have been receiving an increasing number of queries about river and riverbank maintenance, and because there has been much discussion at Parish Council meetings over the last few months and years on this subject. Whilst the Parish Council tries to be responsive towards those affected by overgrowth and flooding, the main problem lies in the fact that the Gascoigne in Milborne Port is not recognised as a river by the Environment Agency, the body responsible for the designation of rivers and their care; it is instead designated an ‘ordinary watercourse’.
Our Lead Local Flood Authority (Somerset Council) is responsible for creating, maintaining, and monitoring a local flood risk management strategy for its area but not for maintaining watercourses or their banks. Somerset Council can take enforcement action if the lack of maintenance of a watercourse is in contravention of the Land Drainage Act of 1991, but it is the individual landowner’s legal responsibility to do so to prevent obstructions and flood risk.
Somerset Council Highways Department will become involved with a problem caused by poor river maintenance but the circumstances for this would need to be that a poorly maintained river or watercourse either side of a road bridge risks impacting upon the integrity of (or the ability to cross) that bridge. It’s not easy to navigate the online system to report a problem like this this without going round in circles but it is doable, so please persevere!
So where does that leave us? Some riparian owners in the village can certainly be relied upon to fulfil their responsibilities to clear their sections of river of debris and overgrowth – some even going above and beyond – but where the Gascoigne runs alongside a housing estate, commercial property or some other private property, we need to rely on goodwill.
The Parish Council owns no land for which it has riparian rights or responsibilities, but we are regularly in touch with some that do – with limited success – to request that maintenance or clearance work is carried out. The impact of not maintaining a particular section of the river and its banks might not be felt by the individuals next to that part of the river, but it could well be felt up or downstream during the autumn and winter months.
So, to those riparian owners who are already fulfilling their responsibilities, many thanks. To those who are not, a plea from your fellow villagers… A neglected river affects the quality of life of others, the worst-case scenario being that a watercourse where water flow is hampered by blockages can burst its banks and flood the surrounding area. Whilst meadow land is designed to cope with this, residential areas are not.