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News about SOCS & The Sussex Ouse |
| News Archive |
| Diary Dates |
| Here are some forthcoming events in which SOCS will be exhibiting or taking part: |
| For more details of our Task Force dates please click here... 5th July 2008 (Saturday p.m) - Plumpton Village Fayre, we will have our usual tent and display there. 12th July 2008 (Saturday) - Lewes Societies Fair. Town Hall from 10am to 2pm. SOCS will be exhibiting along with lots of other clubs & societies. 13th July 2008 (Sunday) - Task Force - Activity currently being planned. 10th August 2008 (Sunday) - Task Force - Gravel substrate improvement, Bevern Stream, Hurst Barns, East Chiltington. 14th September 2008 (Sunday) As above. 12th October 2008 (Sunday) As above. |
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SOCS raise money for river projects by serving teas at Mount Harry - 7th June 2008 We were again kindly invited by Lady Alice Renton to provide teas at the Mount Harry Garden Open day on 7th June. We were lucky with the weather which was nice and sunny but with a pleasant breeze. Although the day coincided with The South of England Show at Ardingly there was an extremely good attendance enabling the Society to raise valuable funds for our ongoing projects. It also gave us the opportunity to meet and explain to many of the visitors the role we play in undertaking conservation work in the catchment. Our thanks to Lady Alice Renton for inviting us again this year it was not only very much appreciated but we also very much enjoyed ourselves. The gardens were beautiful and made even better with their setting against the backdrop of The South Downs. We would also again like to thank the directors of Inbake David Drury and Keith Bentley in Uckfield for very kindly donating the excellent cakes; their generosity made a big difference to our fund raising efforts. Thanks also go to Ros, Viv, Diana and Judy for their outstanding ‘front of house service’ under a lot of pressure, plus to Sam and John for their sterling work washing up, making tea and loading cake trays. Well done everybody. SOCS is short listed in Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service – 17th April 2008 The Sussex Ouse Conservation Society is very proud to have been one of 400+ organizations from all over the UK put forward and short listed for The Queen’s Award for Voluntary Service. It is a long process requiring that initially, the nomination is accepted by the committee. This is followed by a comprehensive interview with two of the Queen’s Award South East representatives. We met with them and discussed the history of S.O.C.S., our objectives, what had been achieved since formation, what we aimed to achieve in the future and our plans for making it happen. We are pleased to report that following this process S.O.C.S. is one of the 20 voluntary groups from East Sussex being put forward for further consideration. Five volunteers attended a reception given by the Lord Lieutenant of East Sussex at Plumpton College, where we met the other 19 nominated organizations. All were congratulated for their work which covered an amazing variety of activities. We are honoured to have been short listed to the final 20 in the county and now await a decision, to be made in June, when organizations are to be put forward for this very prestigious award. SOCS engage the community for the River Uck Spring clean 2008 – 9th Marh 2008 On Sunday, members of the Sussex Ouse Conservation Society (S.O.C.S.) were joined by several people from the Uckfield community to carry out the annual River Uck spring clean. Before we started the banks looked cleaner than in previous years but none the less there was plenty of litter strewn about. Despite the increased flow and depth of the river after recent rain, members of the S.O.C.S. team managed to safely wade in to locate and retrieve dumped items. This year’s tally of recovered litter and fly tipped material included - 6 assorted supermarket trolleys, Several large pieces of carpet and underlay, an Electric cooker, 2 Office chairs, 2 new reels of fencing wire, a Vacuum cleaner, a pushchair, 2 car batteries, 2 advertising boards announcing a recent carpet sale, a pink child’s bicycle (appears to have been thrown from the town bridge), a bicycle tyre, 2 Christmas trees, Wooden pallets, plastic sheeting, hundreds of bottles and drinks cans, hundreds of sweet wrappers and crisp packets, electrical conduit, a spirit level, a folding deck chair, a plastic garden chair, cable, items of clothing (tracksuit tops, boxer shorts, and children’s leggings), supermarket carrier bags, plastic drinks cups, plastic cutlery and polystyrene fast food boxes, a football, several car hub caps along with wheels with tyres, several inside-out umbrellas, telephones and we also filled about 50 refuge sacks with general litter Of all the items above, pieces of carpet are the most difficult items to remove from the water as once saturated they are extremely heavy and awkward to handle, taking 4 or 5 people to retrieve an average size piece. During the day the team managed to tidy the river and its banks from the Hempstead Meadows nature reserve, all the way downstream to the A22 Uckfield by-pass, some ¾ of a mile. The worst section was from Bridge Cottage and down through Bellbrook industrial estate. At the end of the day anybody looking upstream and downstream from the town bridge would have noticed a great improvement, in fact many passers-by commented on a good job done. We were particularly heartened when two young boys made an effort to come and talk to us, genuinely thanking us for what we were doing. As with our observations last year there are clear indications that the regular litter picking events held as part of the Brighter Uckfield Campaign have had a significant impact in reducing the amount of litter finding its way into the river. The wind is responsible for transporting most of the litter to the river, so picking it up from the wider area certainly removes the source. It’s fair to say that over the last couple of years things have improved, this year the amount of junk removed from the river was considerably less than 2007. Maybe the message is getting through! It would be nice to think, that keeping the river tidy would not require such an enormous effort from volunteers during this annual task. It’s a long tiring day for those involved, which wouldn’t be necessary if shopping trolleys and waste were kept secure. We hope the residents of Uckfield appreciate our effort; any town lucky enough to have a river should treat it as an asset and value the wildlife it brings. SOCS Teams up with RACS on Wetlands project – 17th February 2008 At the weekend members of the SOCS Task Force swapped rivers to help the River Adur Conservation Society (RACS) with an exciting wetland creation project at Pondtail Farm on the Knepp Castle Estate near Horsham. Estate owner, Charlie Burrell involved RACS to organise and complete the work as part of a landscape re-wilding project currently being undertaken. One aspect of this large scale project is to re-wild part of the River Adur by restoring watercourses back to their state prior to the introduction of intensive farming on the estate. The aim of this re-wilding is to recreate important wetland habitat and is achieved quite simply by blocking drainage ditches and culverts to force watercourses to overflow onto their natural floodplains. By use of a hired digger and driver, RACS have now blocked a number of culverts at Pondtail Farm using wooden boards and chestnut piles backfilled with clay to create dams. Now the land drainage has effectively been removed the creation of wetland will begin.  A short distance from the work site there is graphic evidence of where this has already been achieved. A flooded, boggy field with a restored stream now following its original course, replaces a once well drained dairy pasture. RACS have worked with the estate owner and the Environment Agency to ensure this work will achieve the Estate's objective and is good ecological practice. Until recently most of the land on the Knepp Castle Estate was devoted to traditional arable and dairy farming but in 2001 they shifted their focus entirely and embarked on a series of regeneration and restoration projects aimed primarily at nature conservation and a less intensive meat production. One aspect of the Estates ‘Wildland project' is the ‘re-wilding' of the River Adur – allowing the river to return to its natural meanders after three centuries of being directed into a canal. This will return the old water lags to a natural flood plain system and is anticipated to encourage a much richer diversity of wildlife and plants. If you would like to know more about the River Adur Conservation Society (RACS) please contact John Whiting whose contact details are on the homepage of this Website. New water jetter makes light work of gravel raking . -11th November 2007 In future, the rather arduous task of gravel raking potential sea trout breeding sites will be made a lot easier.We have acquired a powerful water pump and fixed it up with a hose and jetting lance to loosen and clean the gravel substrate. We were just in time to give this apparatus a trial run before the breeding season started, and one of the areas that we tackled now has a redd constructed within it. Now its worth has been proven, we will be using it more widely in the tributaries where sea trout are known to spawn. ART Autumn Conference - “The myth of the natural river: to protect, restore or enhance?”
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Mark Davis and Lesley Williams recently represented SOCS at the ART autumn conference held at the Eden Project, Cornwall. Members of the two joint host Trusts were delighted to see us, SOCS having become a member of ART earlier in 2007.
Yet again the task force has had to spend time taking rubbish out of the Uck in order to ensure it does not wash down causing damage to the river environment. It seems that as fast as we take rubbish out some people seem compelled to throw more back. It is no where near such a problem elsewhere in the catchment, so why Uckfield?  |
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| Before the pollution incident - 14th July 2007 | After - The same location 14th September 2007 |
SOCS reveals the 'Secret life of the River Ouse' at Barcombe Mills - 8th September 2007
On the afternoon of the 8 th September with the permission of the Environment Agency and with the help of Richard Osmond with his Hi Tech Wild Tech trailer we were able to mount an exhibition at Barcombe Mills. We were very fortunate with the weather and met far more people and members than we had expected. We were able to let people see the work carried out by the task force and how their efforts benefited the environmental well being of the river, we also recruited some extra volunteers. Although it is quite challenging it is very rewarding work and with the kind permission of the landowners we get to see parts of the catchment not generally open to the public.
The water testing programme together with the invertebrate monitoring (BMWP) was the source of a number of questions and we were able to explain why we are very insistent on ensuring is definitely undertaken each month. It is an extremely important programme and we know a number of organisations regularly visit our web site each month, including universities, conservation societies etc to view the results.
The education programme run by Sam was also the focus of a lot of attention and two schools will be added to our list of visits in 2008. The children are always incredibly enthusiastic which makes our visits very rewarding.
It was a real bonus to have Richard Osmond on site with his High Tech Wild Tech trailer it is always a great attraction for all age groups; it is fascinating to be able to see the invertebrate that live in the river in such detail. I have had a number of enquiries since about the trailer and Richard can be contacted on 01489 896234 or richard@wildlifeeducation.co.uk
Some people who visited asked our views on returning navigation to the river and this gave us the opportunity to explain the environmental damage that the project would cause if it were allowed to proceed. It was also interesting to note that people assumed any navigation would involve canal boats on the river, this is not so as they would be too large. I am pleased to say that all the people I spoke to realised how damaging this venture would be and agreed with our strong opposition together with that of other conservation societies. Please see our website for the Environment Agencies initial response.
We would like to thank all those who helped us on the day especially Richard for his very interesting contribution. We would also like to thank the Environment Agency for not only letting us use their land but also for preparing it which made our access so much easier.
Care home pollutes stream with sewage - 7th September 2007
A residential care home in the Ouse catchment has been fined £5,000 for sewage pollution. The doctor who owns the home at Horney Common , near Uckfield was fined for failing to adequately treat sewage before pumping it into a nearby stream.The Environment agency had carried out a number of tests over a period of time and found the Biochemical Oxygen Demand (BOD) and suspended solids had both exceeded limits laid down in the discharge consent. These limits are set to ensure treated sewage does not harm the environment. On one occasion the BOD was found to be four times the permitted amount and the suspended solids, three times.
The private treatment works at the home had not been working properly, causing inadequately treated sewage to be discharged into the small watercourse. Fortunately no damage had been caused to the macroinvertebrate population of the watercourse or the Batts Bridge Stream into which it flows.
SOCS awards the Tony Barnard Memorial Sheild to St Peters School Chailey - 19th July 2007
At the S.O.C.S. Annual General Meeting held on July 19th 2007, Ann Barnard, widow of the late Tony Barnard, presented the Tony Barnard Memorial Shield to St Peter's School, Chailey, for their achievements in environmental awareness over the past year. The Barnard family have kindly donated this shield for us to award each year to a person or organisation that the Trustees feel have made an outstanding contribution to our cause.Tony died in February 2006 after a long illness, he was one of the founder members of S.O.C.S. and known for his tremendous enthusiasm for so many conservation issues. He realised that the river and its tributaries were being badly affected by the pressures of excessive urban development and the more intensive farming methods being employed.
It is true to say that without the vision and energy of Tony and the founder members, the Ouse and the very important feeder streams would be in a much poorer state today. Tony's incredible enthusiasm and drive brought a sense of urgency that was so important to forming our Society.
SOCS raises awareness of its work and the river at the South of England show- 7-9th June 2007
Once again this year we joined Richard Osmond with his High Tec Wild Trek Trailer at the South of England Show. Thankfully it was not as hot as last year which was a relief for all the volunteers who kindly helped. The technology that Richard employs in his trailer allows the invertebrates that are collected each day to be magnified to fifty times their normal size which both children and adults found very interesting. A number of children insisted that their parents returned to the display for second and even third visits. At the end of each day all the specimens were returned alive to the pond and the streams.
We met many of our members, made many new friends and were able to answer their questions. We talked about the delights of the river and its tributaries, the work we undertake through the year and the environmental threats the catchment faces.
We are also grateful to the South of England Agricultural Society for providing us with the venue.
SOCS Joins the Association of Rivers Trusts (ART) - 30th March 2007
On 30th March 2007 S.O.C.S. became a Registered Member of the Association of Rivers Trusts (ART). We are proud to have been accepted as a member of this influential body and to become part of the national movement for the protection of UK rivers. Our membership will strengthen our capability to restore the River Ouse to a watercourse of good ecological status and protect it from the threats of pollution, over abstraction and inappropriate designs to canalise it for navigation. http://www.associationofriverstrusts.org.uk/ Navigation on the Sussex Ouse - 27th March 2007
On 27 th March members of the S.O.C.S. Committee attended, by invitation, a presentation entitled “The Sussex Ouse, A Vision for the 21 st Century” by the Sussex Ouse Restoration Trust (S.O.R.T.)Bob Draper, the Chairman of S.O.R.T. gave a short talk with slides elaborating on their aims and ambitions. Brochures were also available summarizing the “vision”
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| Photo- P.Green/Natural England |
It was obvious that S.O.R.T. do not understand the basic principles of river ecology. What they are proposing means wholesale destruction of the riffle/pool character in the middle and upper reaches of the river with a consequent drastic loss of biodiversity. The fast water reaches, with gravel beds, are rich in water crowfoot and starwort and support a vast array of invertebrates, the bedrock of a balanced ecological system. These areas are also the spawning grounds for wild brown trout and sea trout and support species of fish such as bullheads, stone loach, grayling and barbel. These fish cannot thrive in slow flowing rivers with increased turbidity and a silt substrate. Such habitat destruction can by no means be regarded as ecological enhancement. S.O.R.T. even claim that their interventions will “improve” angling on the river.
There are many other flawed aspects of the S.O.R.T. proposals too numerous to elaborate upon here, but our scientific adviser, Dave Brown, has compiled a document addressing the issues which will be sent to S.O.R.T.
We, (the S.O.C.S. trustees), have no objection to the restoration of some of the old locks to preserve architectural heritage, but we are adamantly opposed to S.O.R.T.s other “restoration” proposals, which in our opinion would lead to ruination not restoration.
SOCS helps campaign defeat planning application for 750 homes threatening ancient gyhll woodland - 8th February 2007
The Society joined a large number of local residents of Uckfield, The Woodlands Trust, The Sussex Wildlife Trust, The Environment Agency and others in strongly opposing the above application. We are pleased to say that it was rejected by Wealden Planning Committee on Thursday 8 th February 2007 but the applicants do have six months in which to appeal against the decision. The application proposed building 750 houses, a primary school, a light industrial estate and shops at Downlands Farm, an area that falls outside the Wealden Local Plan, adopted in 1998 also in contravention of the non-statutory Wealden Local Plan. It would concrete over three large fields, an area of ancient woodland and common land that has all the characteristics of the high weald.
An Environmental Impact Assessment was produced by consultants omitted many important environmental and conservation concerns. Our objection was based on the complete omission from the document of the potential damage that could occur to the Shortbridge Stream which is designated a Salmonid water by DEFRA under the EU Freshwater Fisheries Directive 78/659/EEC.
The proposed development would straddle three deep ghylls that drain into the stream which has a population of wild brown trout, sea trout and brook lampreys. Surface water drainage from the development would enter these ghylls which together with the potential for fly tipping of garden refuse could seriously compromise the water quality in the stream and upset the delicate ecological balance.
The other environmentally driven objectors were also critical of The Environmental Statement and made the very strong point of how this application if approved would cause enormous damage to the rich biodiversity of this area. Local residents further concentrated on the total lack of adequate infrastructure to support this development which would be in addition to other applications already approved.
We are very pleased with the decision made by the Wealden Planning Committee to reject this application and we would hope that this cynical attempt to develop an area of such natural beauty and rich biodiversity will not be appealed. However there is a lot of money/profit driving this proposal involved so we will need to be very vigilant.
Bid to pump treated sewage into rivers - 2nd February 2007
Treated sewage would be pumped into the River Cuckmere at Horsebridge and the Ouse at Isfield if a scheme before the Environment Agency goes ahead.Worried conservationists say the discharge will equal at least a quarter of the flow of both rivers and be 'absolutely disastrous.'
At present sewage effluent is discharged from the Newhaven sewage works via a long sea outfall into the English Channel.
But now Newater PLC has lodged a formal application for consent to discharge 15,000 cubic metres per hour per river from the works to the Ouse and the Cuckmere.
The aim is to increase flow so water can be taken downstream to go into the public drinking water supply.
Sam St Pierre, director of the Sussex Ouse Conservation Society, said:'
'All effluent has contaminants which impact on invertebrate life, fish etc. How can the carbon footprint of energy used to pump the water be justified?'
Water bailiff Jim Smith said: 'This is absolutely disastrous - it stinks. The outcome does not bear thinking about. I believe it's an admission there is just not enough water to supply local needs. What about phosphates and nitrates - this will destroy the ecosystem and be an environmental disaster. How can the people responsible be sure there will never be any mistakes over treatment? The river will smell like an over-disinfected toilet.'
An Environment Agency spokeswoman confessed: 'This is a bit of an odd one. Newater has applied to us but they do not have a pipeline in place and would need to apply for several permissions. Any consent is a long way in the future. We have been in discussion with the company and we have a duty to let the public know. To gain consent the firm would have to meet stringent conditions in place to protect the river.'
No comment was available from Newater.
A spokeswoman for South East Water, which provides drinking water in the area, said the extraction of water from rivers for drinking water supplies was common.
She added: 'While this Discharge Consent Application is entirely a matter for the Environment Agency we would like to reassure our customers that the drinking water we supply from whatever source is among the highest quality in Europe and consistently meets the stringent standards set by the Drinking Water Inspectorate, which monitors our activities.'
S.O.C.S. Goes International - 25th November 2006
Mohammad Nemati, a postgraduate student at the Isfahan University of Technology, came across our web site and contacted us for some information on our macro invertebrate surveying methodology. Mohammad is researching and preparing a thesis on the effects of surrounding land use on the Zayandeh River , a 250 mile long watercourse in Iran, which runs through Isfahan. We have since corresponded with Mohammad and learned a great deal about his river and the work he is doing and we hope that some of the information about our endeavours has also been useful to him.
The Zayandeh Rud River
Rud means "river" in Persian.The Zayandeh Rud basin, is a closed river basin with no outlet to the sea, located in the central part of Iran. The main river, the Zayandeh Rud, runs for some 350 km roughly west-east from the Zagros mountains to the GawKhuni Swamp. The majority of the basin is a typical arid and semi-arid desert. The most fertile part of the basin are the alluvial deposits flanking the Zayandeh Rud.
This large river system, like the Sussex Ouse faces similar problems caused by exploitation and climate change, with drought being a serious issue. Numerous factors including continued growth of urban population, development of new agricultural land and rapid increases in industrial demands, have caused water a shortage for the last 50 years. Agriculture is the main water consumer using more than 80% of the available water resources. This has also resulted in reduction of water quality of the Zayandeh Rud, especially downstream the city of Isfahan. This deterioration is causing problems for the ecosystem of the rivers and GawKhuni swamp, an internationally recognized wetland. Honing our skills - 13th November 2006
On Monday 13th November, members of the S.O.C.S. biological monitoring team, and a contingent from the Amacom project, University of Brighton, attended a macro invertebrate sampling session at Clappers Weir on the Bevern Stream. Two of the Environment Agency's Ecological Appraisal Officers demonstrated the kick-sampling method used. We were pleased to note that our procedures to date have been fairly standard, but we have picked up a few tips to improve them in future. We are grateful to the officers of the Sussex Area Environment Agency for providing us with this opportunity.
The SE Plan threatens the natural environment the Sussex Ouse - 28th October 2006
The South East Plan is a “vision” for the future development of the South East of England. This will naturally concern us, as our river basin is involved. The plan has been formulated by the South East England Regional Assembly (SEERA), a government appointed body comprising 112 members .
SEERA has only one member with a published environmental credential (a representative from the New Forest National Park Authority). There are no official representatives from Wildlife Trusts, River Trusts or any other conservation bodies. This is a matter of concern. The Plan's list of 21 original themes (expressed as “needs”), gives scant regard to protection of the natural environment. Item 13 states that there is “The need to protect the best of the Region's natural environment…..) This infers that the remainder of the natural environment (i.e. other than areas designated as SSSI, SAC, AONB etc.) will have to take its chances.
Only Part of the River Ouse has “Salmonid” designation, Offham Marshes are designated as a SSSI and that is about all.
The main purpose of the South East Plan is to enforce burgeoning development in the South East, 28,900 new dwellings each year for the next twenty years, 578,000 in total. The quota in the Ouse catchment is likely to be in excess of 10,000 a year. The Plan states that account will be taken of the availability of water resource. There is a big question mark over where the water will come from. Particularly bearing in mind that most of our region has been subjected to a hosepipe ban for the last 16 months and there is no prospect of it being lifted in the near future. The Catchment Abstraction Management Strategy (CAMS) formulated by the Environment Agency has concluded that there is “No water available” in the Ouse River basin or the local aquifers. We leave you to make your own conclusions.
'Careless' firm fined over chronic river pollution - 1st September 2006
A Company has been fined thousands of pounds for discharging foul sewage
into the River Uck.The Environment Agency has prosecuted a local food company, of Pipers Farm, East Hoathly, for breaching its sewage treatment consent levels.
At the end of October 2005, Environment Agency officers found the company was in breach of its conditions after visiting the premises following a report of a grey foul-smelling discharge.
An agency spokesman said:'At the point of discharge, foam was also present and about 40 metres of the stream bed was covered in sewage fungus. 'Sewage fungus develops when poorly treated effluent has been discharged for several days. A downstream pond was filled entirely with grey foul-smelling water and appeared lifeless.'
Environment officers felt the health risks were such that they could not enter the pond to assess it.
However, the survey they were able to carry out indicated the water had been badly affected by the discharge and the pollution was deemed to be chronic rather than a one-off incident.
Samples of the sewage showed levels of biochemical oxygen demand were 67 times the consent and suspended solid levels were seven times the consent.
The offending company pleaded guilty to the offence before a district judge at Hastings Magistrates Court on Wednesday last week.
The company was fined £2,500 and was ordered to pay costs of £2,395.
During a formal interview, a senior representative of the company
claimed they were not aware of the consent and its requirements and added the discharge from the pipe has always been sludgy grey.
They also confirmed there was no maintenance contract for the treatment plant in place. Environment officer Arnie Plummer said: 'It is clear that this company grossly failed to operate and maintain their sewage treatment plant so as to comply with their consent to discharge.
'Any company discharging treated sewage effluent into a water course has a legal responsibility to ensure that it is not harming the environment.'
The company said it had spent a large amount of money updating equipment and putting maintenance procedures in place. It stated the offence was due to carelessness and not a deliberate flouting of the law.
Remove this blot on the Landscape
Campaigner calls for overhead cables to be put underground - 26th May 2006
A LEWES man is campaigning for the unsightly overhead electricity transmission lines running the seven miles along the Ouse Valley , between Lewes and Newhaven, to be placed underground. And Paul Millmore believes this is the right time to do just that. EDF Energy has applied to the government for permission to replace the overhead conductors on the 132,000 volt transmission line.
Rather than replace them, says Mr Millmore a conservation Consultant, the company should place them underground.
In a letter to EDF, objecting to the proposal Mr Millmore said:'As the line runs down the Ouse Valley , it is, highly detrimental beautiful landscape.
'As East Susssex County Council is undertaking a feasibility study on providing a cycleway between Lewes and Newhaven, it would seem an ideal opportunity to combine this with the undergrounding of the 132,000 volt line between the two towns.
'Alternatively it might be possible to put the line in ducting alongside the railway line which also connects the town towns.'
Mr Millmore also believes EDF is bound by law to protect the environment where it can. And he told the Express: 'Those overhead lines are a serious blot on the landscape.
'This is a fabulous opportunity to improve the whole valley by undergroundng them.
Don't forget, the Ouse Valley could soon be part of a National Park and the South Downs Way already crosses it. And the lines are already a constant source of danger to geese and swans flying up the river valley.'
A spokesman for EDF Energy said: 'We are investing £346,000 to replace these overhead power lines.
'We launched a scheme last September to remove power lines in some of the most beautiful landscapes in the south-east, made possible through a special allowance granted by industry regulator Ofgem.
'We will invest £7.7 million over the next four years in projects to install underground cables, in place of overhead power lines.
'To underground this particular section of overhead line would cost something in the region of £8 million, which is more than the total allowance granted to us by Ofgem for the south-east for the next four years.
'Undergrounding very high voltage lines is extremely expensive, as the cables used are more costly than those needed for lower voltages and they need to be buried far deeper in the ground.
'There are also geographical constraints involved when we underground cables including rivers and the legal consents that we need to get in place to carry out such work.'
SOCS Task Force, lead clean-up of the River Uck as part of the Brighter Uckfield Campaign –
19 th March 2006
Sunday 19 th March marked the start of the 2006 season for the S.O.C.S. Task Force team. 12 members turned out in the centre of Uckfield for a clean up of the River Uck and its banks, through the town and Bellbrook industrial estate. This was to be S.O.C.S. contribution to the Brighter Uckfield Campaign initiated by Sussex Express, with the aim of engaging the community to clean up all aspects of the town. About 40 volunteers arrived to assist with litter picking in the area – organised groups included Uckfield Rugby Club and football club , other individuals turned up keen to do their bit. Ian Smith from Uckfield town council completed the line up dressed up as a ‘mucky duck' to cheer everyone on their way. The Sussex Express was also present to record the volunteers by way of a group photo. The sun was shining, but there was a definite chill in the air as we set out. Those members of the task force equipped with waders ventured into the water and set to work removing a huge assortment of rubbish and other items that had been dumped into the river. These could cause blockages leading to flooding and also harm wildlife if left in the river - apart from looking unsightly. Having got over the shock of the temperature of the water (only 2-3 degrees C!) these items were passed up to the bank crew, larger and heavier items were hauled out with the aid of ropes.
During the clear up a couple of mink were disturbed, one of which fled downstream, criss-crossing the river ahead of the progressing work party. On meeting more people working in the river further down, it decided to escape the commotion by leaving the river and hesitantly crossing Bell Walk car park, in public view. The mink was then spotted again behind the factories on the industrial estate. These non-native animals are villains of the wildlife world, totally destructive and will kill almost anything they come into contact with, nesting birds are a common target. These animals probably descended from those that used to be farmed in the area for their furs, about 40 years ago. More welcome wildlife spotted included grey wagtails, mallards and blackbirds.
The rubbish collected was placed at pre-agreed sites for collection later by Wealden District Council. So what did we find? An impressive assortment of rubbish that included:
A mattress, 2 steel baths, a toilet bowl, 14 tyres, car exhaust pipe, car battery, a large metal spring probably from a vehicle, a fibre glass roof from a pick-up truck, a bicycle, 4 shopping trolleys, an ironing board, a computer monitor, 2 bundles of newspapers still tied together, assorted plastic piping including drain pipes, several huge lengths of plastic wrapping material, assorted bits of wood including palettes, carpet tiles, a huge number of carrier bags from local supermarkets, a hazard warning notice for ‘Men at Work', and finally about 80 black sacks full of assorted rubbish and general litter such as drinks cans, bottles, sandwich wrappers, crisp packets, and chocolate wrappers.
Uckfield – Week-long spring clean - 17th February 2006
TWO weekends in March are being earmarked for action in the Brighter Uckfield Campaign. The Sussex Ouse Conservation Society is leading a clean-up of the Uck on Sunday, March 19, and the town council which is running the campaign is hoping to co-ordinate more work on Saturday, March 18, and the next weekend, Saturday and Sunday, March 25 and 26. At a meeting of the campaign steering committee Mark Davis from the Sussex Ouse Conservation Society stressed the fun element of working with a large team on a project
like this.In addition to the camaraderie there is a chance to get close to the river, see the wildlife and appreciate the amenity, he said.
His team will be meeting in the Bell Walk Car Park at 9.30am and will be delighted to have extra help. Society members will go into the river to pass out rubbish to helpers waiting to receive it on the banks.
A similar clean-up last year ended with 30 sacks of litter collected and the efforts of volunteers from Kings Church meant the work was done very quickly, he said.
(Story by kind permission of the Sussex Express....)
Task Force volunteer to plant Black Poplar trees alongside the Bevern Stream -
11th February 2006
I knew all about their exploits, but I had not seen the task force at work. Then I was given some Black Poplars to plant alongside the Bevern Stream. The task force offered to come to Knowlands Farm at Barcombe and help plant them. And they came again when they heard I had a hundred shrubs over from a hedge planting exercise and wanted to plant them alongside a scrape I have recently built as part of a Countryside Stewardship scheme. With a team of a dozen volunteers, it didn't take long to put in 96 hawthorn, blackthorn, alder buckthorn and dog rose – I look forward to seeing these shrubs making a big contribution to the berry crop available for winter birds in a few years. Also I am hoping they will give some protection to the Black Poplars from the attentions of the fallow bucks, which are 
inclined to view thin straight tree stems as suitable for polishing their tines. The deer are a bit lazy though and won't usually fight their way through thorns when there are plenty of more easily accessible young trees to destroy.After the job was done, we took the opportunity to have a closer look at that part of the Bevern. The team couldn't resist clearing a potential blockage (picture). We watched long-tailed tits. We saw the thriving ranunculus re-introduced by SOCS people over recent years. We were shown a sea trout redd or scrape in the gravel stream bed. This was the first that Jim, Sam or Mark (we had the heavy guns there)
had observed on the Knowlands Farm stretch of the Bevern in the last thirty years; significantly one of only two downstream of the nearby sewage outfall (an ugly place but this time delightfully framed by copious alder catkins – see picture). I believe the six metre strips of conservation headland – another constituent of recent Countryside Stewardship schemes – are making a big difference. All in all, a good morning. My thanks indeed to the SOCS task force.
Nick Lear - February 2006
Rain, rain come again – quickly! - 3 rd February 2006
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| Pictured, Arlington Reservoir in October last year and pictured again last week. | |
He said: ‘While our three strategic reservoirs at Ardingly, Arlington and Pembury are slowly recovering, our groundwater sources, which provide three-quarters of our supply, are still well below average for the time of year.
'Unless we get substantial and prolonged rainfall over the next three months, significant recovery of these water sources seem unlikely.
'That could result in out current hosepipe ban continuing this summer, as well as the possibility of further and more widespread restrictions.'
(Story by kind permission of the Sussex Express....)
£185,000 improvement scheme - 27th January 2006
A £185,000 improvement scheme to wastewater treatment works at Ripe has been completed by Southern Water. The works treats and recycles wastewater into a tributary of the River Ouse. As part of the scheme a new tank was built to store storm water during heavy rainfall and prevent it from overflowing into the watercourse. This enables the water to be pumped into the works for treatment once the bad weather subsides. The project also saw the installation of new screens to filter out debris, new monitoring equipment and a special system that will measure and regulate wastewater flows coming to the site.(Story by kind permission of the Sussex Express....)
Rare birds ruffle a few feathers - Twitchers flock to valley to catch a glimpse of egrets - story by Susan King - 13th January 2006
A flock of rare birds is attracting dozens of twitchers (birdwatchers) to the Ouse estuary near Newhaven.
Eight cattle egrets have flown into Piddinghoe and are causing a stir in birdwatching circles. Before they arrived there had only been a dozen records of this small white heron in Sussex and barely a hundred records from the whole of the UK . They are named after their habit of feeding amongst livestock, often hitching a ride on the backs of sheep and cattle.The cattle egrets were first seen on January 2 feeding in a flooded field and have been seen daily in the area since. A ninth bird turned up at Pagham Harbour in West Sussex between December 16 and January 4 bringing a touch of Spain to the county. RSPB spokesman Adrian Thomas said: ‘Rare birds are always fascinating but in conservation terms are often no more than a curiosity. But this time these cattle egrets could have a much greater significance. We have been predicting that this is one of the species that could react to global warming by colonising the UK, and for a flock of eight to have arrived could be a signal that this is not far away now.'
Cattle egrets have been expanding their range in Europe since the 19th century when they were found only in Spain , arriving in Southern France in 1969. They have continued to move north since then, with small numbers now breeding near the Somme estuary in northern France . Little egrets – often seen in the Cuckmere Valley – started to colonise South Coast wetlands and river valleys some ten years ago. While some of this increase may be just a natural development, milder winters are also thought to be allowing many more to survive much further north. Mr Thomas said: ‘Climate change is now seen as the biggest threat to wildlife around the globe. While a few species may benefit, millions of species are thought to be at risk as their habitats change. Even species that we think are doing well if they increase in the UK or colonise here may well be suffering elsewhere in their range. The extra birds in the UK are not offsetting the losses in other places.'
(Story by kind permission of the Sussex Express....)
Redd watch 2006 - 2nd January 2006
The time to go out looking for sea trout redds is with us again. (If you don't know what a “redd” is, go to our sea trout section and all will be revealed.) Looking for redds involves a lot of tramping across muddy fields and struggling through brambles to get to the areas where the sea trout are likely to spawn. These will almost invariably be in the headwaters of tributaries that have a loose gravel substrate. Often the favourite sites are in side streams so small that one can easily jump over them and which can be “winterbournes”; streams that run in winter, but dry up in summer.
So far this winter there has been very little rainfall. A good spate is necessary to stimulate the sea tout to ascend to their spawning grounds. We have only had two moderate spates so far, apparently not significant enough to provide a good run of fish. Consequently the number of redds identified has been relatively low. It is fortuitous that the modifications to Redbridge and Clappers Weirs on the Bevern Stream were completed last autumn. This stream is probably the most important sea trout breeding area in the whole catchment and had the weir modifications not been carried out, it is probable that no fish would have reached the breeding grounds yet. There is still time for the fish held up in the main river to move, but we need some serious rain to get things moving.