A long battle

Val reports on a successful prosecution following ecological vandalism on Herefordshire's River Lugg

- Val Bourne

ON 6 March 2021, I wrote about a Herefordshire farmer who had deliberately vandalised a section of the River Lugg. I explained that this nationally important river rises near Llangunllo and travels to the north of Leominster, where it joins with the River Arrow. The Welsh name means ‘bright stream’. The lower reaches have been a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) since 1995. Crayfish, otters, salmon and lampreys lived on this stretch, and kingfishers roamed the river, too. More than 120 plant species were recorded there, before its destruction.

The River Lugg is nationally important, because only 14% of rivers in England are ‘at good ecological status’. The farmer and local landowner cleared the banks, removed gravel from the river bed and straightened the meanders on the River Lugg over a one-mile stretch. All the vegetation in the area was scoured out by bulldozers, leaving one side of the riverbank clear of any vegetation. The farmer claimed that the local Parish Council and some residents had asked him to do the work to prevent flooding. However, removing meanders and straightening any river increases the chance of flooding downstream.