Author: Rob Jones FRICS
My colleague Bruce McGlashan, the Secretary of the River Otter Fisheries Association (ROFA), wrote a great piece recently for the Otter Valley Association outlining the many issues and pressures currently facing the River Otter. Many are serious issues in themselves but, when combined, they give us considerable cause for concern about the present state of the river and the wildlife and activities it supports.
There are, as Bruce pointed out, a multitude of bodies working actively to help address these issues and improve conditions for the riverine environment generally. Along with these bodies many individuals are also involved, such as our many Citizen Scientists and, together with public opinion it is fair to say that awareness is now overwhelmingly in favour of rivers being protected and improved.
With personal observation of the river both as a fly fisherman and member of the former River Otter Association (now ROFA) since 1986 I have a long perspective and have seen many changes to agricultural practice in the vicinity, the quiet but steady un-noticed invasion of unwanted species both on the banks and in the water, and seen the quality of the fish and fishing decline along with the noted absence of the insects that trout feed on and which are direct indicators of a decline in water quality and the river’s health generally.
The river catchment is some 25,000 hectares and the combined length of the main river and its tributaries is close to 590 km and for 2/3rds of that length it is in AONB defined areas or National Nature Reserve. This alone should lend the river special status to be considered among very few like it in England. It is indeed an ideal candidate for Natural England’s protection. I hope this summary demonstrates the size and importance of the issue at stake.
The University of Exeter report on the catchment is excellent so if you want to delve in detail see here.
A close-up of a riverbed
I now fish worldwide, although mainly in New Zealand. So here is a small piece of what a clean natural riverbed should look like. It is hard to find an equivalent example in the River Otters catchment.
As a Chartered Surveyor living and working in East Devon since 1985 I am keenly aware of the huge increase in the population of East Devon with the accompanying housing development much of which we all know has been poorly thought through, poorly built and designed, and crucially allowed to take place when ‘planning control’ should in many cases have delayed or prevented it completely or, controlled the development with careful thought as to whether the required infrastructure needed to accommodate them was adequate. In this context, we have to remember that there is no ‘mains sewer’ in the Otter valley just a series of sewage treatment works which discharge the ‘treated effluent’ straight back into the river. The Otter does not have a headwater supply reservoir to dilute that treated water or that could supply drinking water all of which now comes from the ground over which the river flows. We should again remind ourselves that the water supply network is just that, an interconnected network that can flow in either direction to suit demand, so we cannot assume for example that development in another catchment is not going to affect the River Otter and of course, it has huge implications for the Exe / Clyst river catchment as a result of more new town proposals just west of the Otter over the hill that I have in mind. Do we pay for our water? Actually no, we don’t, we pay for our water to be piped to us in clean potable condition. It is that that we are paying for, not the water itself which belongs to us all. The water companies have a legal and moral duty to look after it for us.
‘Pennon PLC’ aka ‘South West Water’ have their own ‘plan’ currently under public consultation and to save you the trouble of reading it I can simply say that they have recognised that there are ‘issues’ relating to water supply, quality and low flow in the Otter. If you do want to read it be warned it’s a bit ‘dry’ but see here.
‘Planning’ at District Council level should not though be solely focused on controlling development per se. Ideally it should be equally focused on preserving and enhancing what attracts people who want the housing and to live here in the first place! It is one of those ironies that, like tourism, which attracts people to far-away places, the resulting development can inadvertently destroy the essential attraction of areas such as East Devon, particularly if it is not properly and strategically managed.
My primary concern in writing this article is to aid a better understanding of the ‘Planning Policies’ that are in place now and proposed for the future to protect the River Otter. The river cannot defend itself so needs a catchment wide voice and at present there really isn’t one, but we can all be that if we take the trouble. The effort being made now by all the bodies involved with the river will unfortunately not prevail in the long term, even if we each meanwhile act as responsible consumers in every way possible, if the ‘planning policy’ that guides from the top is absent or just simply inadequate for the purpose.
So, what are the ‘policies’? Well, I hate to say this but there are virtually none and we are at a crucial point in EDDC’s new Local Plan preparation cycle with final revisions of the ’draft new plan’ under way right now – yes RIGHT NOW. In fact, we are strictly ‘out of time’ to make comment but have been advised by their ‘policy officer’ that any comments made now will be considered. Strategic committee meetings are underway now considering the draft policies chapter by chapter with those relevant to the river yet to come forward. So, we have time – just. The chapters we are primarily concerned with are 12, 13 and 17 – scheduled for discussion from July onwards. See the Timetable published by EDDC on the East Devon website here.
EDDC’s current adopted ‘Local Plan’, the legal basis upon which they exercise their planning powers and planning control, has in my view more policies that should protect the river than the draft new ‘Local Plan’. I find this very surprising and disappointing given the growing public interest in rivers along with an increasing realisation by many parties, including the government, of the social/economic/health and environmental benefits healthy rivers bring. So, this is where we all need to say our piece. The draft new ‘Local plan’ is almost totally obsessed with ‘development’, by which I mean the construction of buildings for housing and commercial purposes, but does not seem to me to be a properly balanced ‘plan’ with proposed policies that are equally strong in other areas which will concern us all – not least of which is ‘the river that runs through it’ to coin a phrase.
This imbalance is brought into sharp focus as regards the River Otter when comparing the relevant policies in the Draft Plan relating to the River Axe. Here you see what should be expected for all rivers in East Devon namely, extensive fully drafted policies which will help to protect, preserve and enhance The Axe and its catchment. I haven’t the capability to run a word count on the policies in the plan connected to the Axe versus the Otter, but it would not surprise me if that proved to be 100/1.
The fundamental reason for this disparity is that the Axe catchment has recently become protected by a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) status which by law EDDC are required to ‘plan’ for and which status is overseen by Natural England, so EDDC have to be fully on top of their responsibility.
So, on the one hand, EDDC is happy to ‘protect’ the Axe with extensive fully drafted policies, but on the other have almost completely ignored the other rivers in East Devon including the Otter which are equally valued by the local community. This is especially puzzling when scientific evidence from sampling and data already available proves that the River Otter has all the same species as the River Axe. So, the fundamentals are the same even if the river hasn’t been officially designated as a SAC. All this information is fully accessible and publicly available if you know where to look which surely professional planners are best qualified to do. In fact, the River Otter has almost more factors that demand special policy attention namely a newly declared National Nature Reserve which includes the LORP designated area at the bottom of the whole catchment and a thriving population of beavers which the river is nationally famous for.
Natural England only have to be ‘considering the implementation’ of a SAC on part of the Otter catchment for EDDC to be legally required by planning statute to take it into account in their ‘plan’ so naturally we have asked NE for their views. The limited unofficial response to date amounts to their being too short staffed at present to progress designation but supportive in principle given the similar/same features being present on the Otter which have led to the Axe’s SAC designation. Meanwhile, draft ‘planning policy’ advances remorselessly and will be soon cast in stone.
There is of course ‘reputation’, ‘moral obligation’ and ‘taking the high ground’ to consider. EDDC’s own statements and polices on protecting the environment and biodiversity in East Devon should encourage them to do the right thing and introduce, by amendments to the ‘draft local plan’, similarly protective policies for the River Otter as The River Axe.
EDDC have now stated publicly 'that they have a statutory duty to allocate sufficient sites for housing but no such statutory duty to protect the environment'. The draft Local Plan allocates 2276 new houses to the valley and crucially they do not yet have the result of the 'Water Cycle study' they commissioned, and which is surely an essential to the formation of any policy relating to future development. To further their adopted policy, they have now stated that the allocation of sites will over-ride all other policy considerations! This cannot be right surely so what we need now is an expert Local Government lawyer. Is there any out there able to help? Please get in touch.
So, there you have it! If you do agree that the river Otter should have the same protection as the Axe, then please get writing and address EDDC by e-mail to [email protected]