Appeal for Funds

In recent years, the Dore, like many rivers in the UK has suffered ecological damage.  In its State of the Environment report, February 2018, the Environment Agency said: “Unacceptable levels of phosphorus in over half of English rivers, usually due to sewage effluent and pollution from farm land, chokes wildlife as algal blooms use up their oxygen. Groundwater quality is currently deteriorating. This vital source of drinking water is often heavily polluted with nitrates, mainly from agriculture.”

The EU Water Framework Directive (WFD) required the UK to achieve ‘good status’ of all water bodies (including rivers, streams, lakes, estuaries, coastal waters and groundwater) by 2015. This target has not been met.

In recent months, a group of residents living in the Golden Valley have begun legal action against Herefordshire Council aimed at ensuring that the Council uses its powers to protect the River Dore by subjecting relevant planning applications to assessment under the Habitats Regulations. This legal action is being taken entirely independently of the Golden Valley Action Group. This statement is to set the record straight and to tackle misinformation and misunderstanding. The Golden Valley Action Group has NOT brought this action.

The Golden Valley Action Group understands why these residents have taken this action and supports them in wanting to protect the River, which is the lifeblood of the Golden Valley

 Call to Action to Protect Herefordshire’s Rivers from Pollution:  

For many years now we have witnessed the inexorable development of intensive livestock units in Herefordshire. In many of these cases, there has been local opposition to the schemes and planning decisions have often failed to fully take account of the wider environmental impacts, the pollution from ammonium nitrates, and the cumulative impact of increasing numbers of these units on the iconic River Wye and its tributaries. Too often the planning determination has considered each case in isolation.

A group of concerned residents fear that the Council has failed to apply all the legal requirements to its most recent decision on June 3rd, to grant planning permission for the erection of yet another large agricultural shed at Bage Court Farm.

In relation to this decision it is clear that the Planning Committee has failed on two counts.  Firstly, to take account of previous decisions for similar large scale industrial livestock units on this site and the cumulative effect of agricultural shed development, the scale of which suggests the intention to develop intensive livestock farming by stealth.  The residents believe that the Planning Committee has given insufficient weight to the environmental impacts in this case, and the danger of setting a precedent for similar developments in the Golden Valley, which has previously been free of such agri / industrial uses.

Moreover, The Planning Committee failed to require an assessment under the Habitats Regulations in spite of the location of this development, close to the River Dore - a tributary to the River Monnow / Wye river system - whose entire catchment is a Special Area of Conservation (SAC) and a  Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI), which is already severely stressed ecologically and requiring protection.  

You can help protect our iconic rivers by donating to the fund-raising appeal and sharing this link widely.

https://www.crowdjustice.com/case/herefordshire-river-pollution/