Ivel River Restoration Walk ( Stakeholder event 1)
Members of RevIvel attended the first stakeholder event for Affinity Water’s project developing outline designs for the restoration of the River Ivel through Ivel Springs. The event was staged by 5 Rivers consultancy who are leading the project for Affinity Water.
The meeting was aimed at getting stakeholder views on what should be done to make the river channel more natural following man-made changes over the years. This will also maximise the value of any available flow and improve biodiversity within the river corridor.
The event was well attended by around 30 people from many different organisations showing the strength of local feeling in getting the best outcomes for the River Ivel. It was particularly pleasing to have the attendance of our local MP, Sir Oliver Heald, once again demonstrating his commitment to improving chalk streams.
The event was a walk around the Ivel Springs reserve to discuss opportunities, issues, and constraints with local stakeholders, including Revivel. Affinity Water gathered information during the course of the walk from participants that will help inform the design development. There was also a question-and-answer session where the proposed wetland and river augmentation scheme were also discussed. There is still a concerning lack of detail about the augmentation scheme and RevIvel members asked a number of questions to challenge Affinity Water staff about this. There remain clear differences between what Affinity Water are proposing for the augmentation plan and what RevIvel consider to be fair and beneficial to the Ivel. We continue to work hard to gather evidence to challenge the science and modelling behind their proposals.
Please see the attached map detailing the project area
