Following on

So, following a couple of weeks out of the country, here are some quick updates on what is going on at Trout in the Town. We are arranging a second half-day visit to the River Cray to finalise a technical report to give our advice on the most effective restoration measures for this great little chalk river. The report will be made available (as an AV report) on the WTT website (http://www.wildtrout.org/) by the end of October. Similarly, a follow up report on the Trout in the Town visit to the beautiful (but frequently water-starved) Glazert Water, Lennoxtown will also be finalised and is planned to be made available on the WTT website as well. Ironically, when Trout in the Town visited; the river catchment was under prolonged, freak, torrential rainfall (picture).

As ever with Trout in the Town, we are always exploring ways to reach out into local communities. We have got what we believe will be an exciting and completely new classroom initiative (more details to follow when technical details have been ironed out - along with production of suitable artwork/teaching resources). This will have a strong holistic ecological message, emphasising that all aspects of the river corridor environment are inseparably linked.

The WTT (including Trout in the Town) have recently met with the EA to talk through various ramifications of the National Trout and Grayling Fisheries Strategy. We were able to give independent input to the process of deriving best approaches to salmonid fishery restoration measures (including stocking policies) as well as being updated on current and planned research programmes. As part of this process the WTT and EA will be collaborating to produce a decision tree to indicate the most appropriate approaches to restorative stocking. Naturally, all the outcomes of this process will be published in full by the EA and, where appropriate, on the WTT website.
We've had some great progress on the brilliant River Colne project (http://colnewaterac.blogspot.com/2008/08/trout-in-town.html) with formal project timelines currently being produced. This is following a pre-application meeting with relevant EA departments (i.e. biodiversity/conservation, flood risk management, fisheries/recreation and development control). We also have the addition of the invertebrate monitoring partnership between Friends of Greenfield conservation action group and Colne Water AC (the collaboration who also run the regular rubbish cleanups on the river).

There has also been Large Woody Debris (LWD) installed on the River Goyt using some novel "hinged" trees and pinning techniques. Hopefully, this can be added to in the future using the same technique in suitable spots. The Goyt now also has its own invertebrate community monitoring programme (run by Disley and New Mills AC) as a result of Trout in the Town support.

A very promising meeting in Huddersfield was held (which my colleague Tim Jacklin kindly attending in my absence) with MP Barry Sheerman that was aimed at cleaning up the rivers in the Huddersfield area (Rivers Colne and Holme, and the canal). The meeting was attended by a wide range of interested parties including EA, Yorkshire Water, Kirklees Borough Council, Paddock Community Forum, River Colne Project, Calder Catchment Rivers Assn (soon to be Calder & Colne Rivers Trust), Slaithewaite Angling Assn, Urban Mines, Environmental Alliance, and Britvic (large local drinks manufacturer, formerly Ben Shaws).
We looked at the River Colne where there was clear evidence of fly-tipping and cable burning, and where a pollution had killed hundreds of grayling and trout earlier in the year. Following this, at a round table discussion it was decided to form a partnership of those present to tackle these problems. Three of the partners (Urban Mines, Environmental Alliance & the River Colne Project) were tasked with coming up with a draft action/business plan for discussion at the next meeting.

It is worth mentioning that this came about as a result of a WTT auction lot bidder buying the lot on the River Colne supplied by Slaithwaite AA (recipients of an AV). The bidder had a great day, but was appalled by the rubbish in the river, so contacted his good friend, Barry Sheerman MP.....