A farmer from Cold Ash, Thatcham, Berkshire was yesterday (22 September) ordered to pay more than £11,000 after being found guilty at Reading Magistrates' Court of illegally dredging the historically important and ecologically sensitive River Kennet.
Semaj Bovingdon of Broad View Farm was fined £5,000 for dredging gravel without consent from the Environment Agency, and £2,500 for wilfully disturbing a river bed containing spawn or spawning fish, the maximum for each offence. Costs of £3,511.74 were also awarded to the Environment Agency.
The offences came to light on 5 August 2003 when John Harding, a voluntary water bailiff at the Holybrook Fishery in Theale, Berkshire, spotted a digging machine working in the river adjacent to Arrow Head Drive, near Theale. It was using a bucket about 4 feet wide to drag gravel from the river and deposit it on the bank. Mr Harding observed the machine working for around twenty minutes and then contacted the Environment Agency.
Officers from the Environment Agency visited the site later that day, and found the digging machine working further up the river excavating the river bed. Mr Bovingdon was operating the machine.
In all, around 100 metres of the river had been dredged.
In court, Benjamin McFarland, a conservation officer with the Environment Agency, explained the impact of Mr Bovingdon's actions on the River Kennet's delicate ecology. He said: "The Kennet is one of the UK's nationally important chalk rivers, which are renowned for the quality of their water and the diverse range of rare and endangered species they support.
"The gravel Mr Bovingdon removed was forming 'riffles', shallow areas where water flows quickly. Three species of fish found in this stretch of the Kennet rely on this habitat for spawning: barbel, chub and dace. When it was removed in August, the gravel would have contained their eggs, and possibly some early hatchlings. Thousands of fish may have been lost to the Kennet as a result, and this in turn will reduce the numbers of predators that feed on them, the Kingfisher being just one example.
"Riffles are also ideal for some species of caddisfly and mayfly, whose larvae attach themselves to the gravel and then rely on the fast-flowing water to bring them a regular supply of food, such as algae. Many different species of caddisfly and mayfly have been recorded on this stretch of the Kennet, which is also known to have a breeding population of the white-legged damselfly, an uncommon species that needs to be protected.
"These inveterbrates provide a source of food for the bats in the area. Bats are a protected species whose numbers are in decline in the UK. Eliminating or at least significantly reducing the availability of an important part of their diet is hardly helpful.
"And the impact on plant life musn't be neglected either. Dredging ruins the habitat for stream and river water-crowfoot or Ranunculus, which is classically associated with chalk streams and creates still and slow-moving areas in the river for fish to shelter in, stopping them from being washed downstream to potentially unfavourable habitats when river flows are particularly strong." Commenting on the case, Dennis Welling, an enforcement officer for the Agency added: "We're extremely pleased that the courts have imposed the maximum possible fines for these offences, which can only be described as ecological vandalism.
"Like all the UK's chalk stream rivers, The Kennet is one of England's oldest and most fragile ecosystems, supporting a rich diversity of plant and wildlife. Along with many chalk stream rivers however, its quality is in decline, and we at the Agency, along with a range of partners, are working hard to return it to health. A key element of this is maintaining and restoring its natural features, such as riffles. The last thing The Kennet needs at this critical time in its history is people like Mr Bovingdon ripping them out."
