Embracing Autumn in the Brecks
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On the 21st of May, a range of local organisations and individuals met together to discuss the plans for the Little Ouse and Thet rivers. The workshop was facilitated by the Cam and Ely Ouse Partnership (CamEO), Anglian Water and BFER and the aim was to collect together local priorities to inform the development of the River Catchment Plan.
There are 106 catchment partnerships in England and Wales and CamEO is responsible for 6 river catchment areas across the East of England, incorporating a total of 73 waterbodies. All catchment partnerships need catchment plans in place, outlining the following:
- The vision of the catchment partnership,
- A description of the catchment area itself,
- The issues and pressures specific to the catchment,
- The actions and strategies planned to address these issues and alleviate the pressures.
In just the same way as the BFER Landscape Partnership works, the key to success for Catchment Partnerships is collaboration. This workshop was the first in the Brecks to start that collaboration in developing the plan for the Little Ouse and the Thet, so it was a great opportunity for local groups to highlight the issues they see for these rivers, as well as to ensure CamEO understand local priorities.
Charlotte Stannard, from CamEO said:
“We used a Shared Objective Exercise to identify the top five priorities from each participating organisation, then paired stakeholders to uncover common ground and identify joint projects into which it would be worthwhile investing time, energy and resources. The energy in the room was brilliant — practical, constructive, and committed.”
Just some of the issues under discussion were water quality, storm surges and rainwater run-off, invasive-species control, water flow, agricultural best practice and community-engagement with the water. CamEO finished the workshop with a notebook full of notes and a town enthused about creating the best plan possible for its rivers.
If you are interested in being involved in future discussions, or would like to be kept informed about the CamEO catchment plan, please let us know at bfer.admin@suffolk.gov.uk
You can find out more about CamEO here: CamEO Website
