Canal and River Trust response.

After about six months of me pestering them I finally got the Canal and River Trust to address my concerns as to how they are managing the Caldon Canal with regard to its natural assets. Here is the letter that Perter Birch has sent me following my meeting with him and Darren Green (Manager of Central Shires Waterways). Judging by what was said during our meeting and this letter they appear to have admitted that they are not paying proper attention to how they care for the wildife on the canal. They say they sill do better in future. I don't have much conficdence that that will actually happen, but we'll see. Photos with captions describing what they get wrong are below the letter.

13th July 2015

Dear Wendy

Caldon wildLife

Many thanks for taking the time to meet Darren and I on site on 30^th June. We both felt it was a good opportunity to talk through the matters that were concerning you regarding the recent dredging work on the Caldon Canal. Through our discussions a number of areas were identified where we agreed that we could take action, which will include some revisions to our current practices as well as some local specific actions to deal with the issues you raised.

With reference to our conversation, I believe the following are a summary of the agreed actions:

1. I will ask my team to review the silt deposit at the winding hole and look for ways to reinstate wetland habitat at this location or somewhere else on this section of the Canal;
2. We will also draw up proposals for improving the water’s edge interface on the Nicospan disposal area at Baddeley Green;
3. We will review the specification for grass cutting at the back of the towpath adjacent to the former Thomas Bolton works in Froghall, to improve the protection for the orchids that are present there;
4. I’ll provide an example of where netting vegetation, prior to clearance to prevent bird nesting, has been carried out for your comments on the method;
5. We are already working on the Japanese Knotweed issue with Staffordshire Council and their contractor – I will provide an update on how this is being dealt with;
6. Darren will investigate the reason for the extensive spraying around the weir overflow close to Endon Road that we passed returning from our meeting on site and either provide a good explanation as to why this cannot be cut instead, or change the standard applied there;

We recognise how important and essential it is to have passionate local people working with us to manage this valuable environment for all to enjoy. Our meeting illustrated the benefit of having local people, such as yourself, looking at the work we have done and how we have gone about it, and providing critical feedback. As we discussed we would be really grateful if you would provide some further local knowledge in terms of areas where you or others have spotted rare or special species where we should be taking particular care or sites where we can relax or improve our vegetation management to create better habitats for the wildlife on the Caldon. Once we receive them, we will review these suggestions and let you know what can be done to improve the situation.

Once again, many thanks for your time and for sharing your views and ideas.

Yours sincerely

Peter Birch

National Environment Manager

E: Peter.birch@canalrivertrust.org.uk

T: 07860 737763

The Winding Hole before the CRT dumped dredgings on to it.....

...and here after the CRT dumped dredgings on to it, in spite of this action being in contradiction to prescriptions in an ecological study prepared for Staffs County Council as part of their preparations before they installed the Pedal2Peak cycle path.

Bank reprofiling on the canal at Baddeley Green was caried out at the end of 2014. See below for details. 

Bank reprofiling on the Caldon Canal at Baddeley Green was carried out is such a way as to make several hundred metres of canal hostile to much of the wildlife that uses reed fringes. The vertical nicospan edging has been positioned so that it is above the water level, even though the CRT's own rules say it should be 10cm below the water level. 

Japanese Knotweed has been spread along the canal by Staffordshire County Council during the cotstruction of Pedal2Peak. The CRT are aware of this but still send contractors out to strim the pathside vegetation, thus potentially spreading this pernicious weed to more places!!

Broad-leaved Helleborine growing alongside the towpath at Froghall which the CRT say they will now desist from strimming. 

An example of herbicide use by CRT. This is both unsightly and potentially against Environment Agency guidelines which require special conditions to be met before weedkiller can be applied within 1m of a water body.