RIBBLE BARRAGE PROPOSAL

Hi all,

The Lancashire Evening Post is running a survey asking for views on the Ribble barrage proposal. It is available online at

LEP Survey

please complete this and forward this email to like-minded friends. Some options on the Survey are multiple, ie you can select several points at once rather than just one, such as if giving reasons why you might think the barrage a bad idea for instance...

I've put an article on the blog about the survey, so feel free to have a read , but please complete the LEP survey - do it NOW!

The LEP are also planning to run articles about the barrage today and tomorrow, and today's article is particularly interesting as several local people and councillors have raised concerns that yesterday's flash floods would have been much worse had the river been barraged...! One family had to climb down the riverbank to prise open the storm drain "door" as it was jammed shut. See article and our own article

Please complete the LEP Survey as soon as you can.

Please fill in the questionnaire. This insane plan for a barrage across the Ribble will spell disaster for fisheries. If you know anyone on the net who will oppose it please forward.

Thanks, and Happy Ribbling!

Done!

Were are they planning to put the barrage ,what is it being built for ,what, were, when and why please Baz.

How do we know if it will affect the fish and the fishing in this river, have we any proof of other barrages that have been used on other rivers that have had detrimental effects on the ecology of the water ????.

A great big barrage I do not believe this country ,what are the proposers of this giving as the benefits of such a scheme.
And why are the EA paying big money reversing the effects of barrages on fisheries in the north east yet more are in the pipe line .How strange.

If they DO have the barrage it might stop the seals from going up the river.....

Ed you are stirring it again! Will it be like the barrages in the first world war when they shelled the trenches? Poor old fish will get a shock eh!

If they DO have the barrage it might stop the seals from going up the river.....
No it won't!

Once past the barrage they can't get out again!

That'd be good for the seals then wouldn't it .......

Hmmmmm.... I sniff local developer, Marina and traditional local authority collusive corruption again. *sigh*

Fishing above the Thames barrier is good.
Anybody know about the Taff?

Here's what Preston City Council has to say about it http://www.preston.gov.uk/Documents/01%20quality%20riverside.pdf

Done

I sniff local developer, Marina and traditional local authority collusive corruption again.

Evan, looking at the proposal, I suspect you may be spot on with that comment.

Why can't people just stop looking at the ????? signs and look at the legacy we're leaving behind? A countrywide network of convenient murky fish puddles, with bankside parking and burger vans, and marinas stuffed with weekend admirals in their tupperware boats? Is that really what we are leaving for the future?

Do we really want to have future generations of children who don't know what it's like to go hunting for bullheads under stones in the shallows, chasing sticklebacks with a fishing net or catching tiddlers with a bit of wool and a hook? It's not the world I want to leave behind.

Sorry, I'm ranting, but it is really p*ssing me off, all this ridiculous meddling with something that has managed itself for thousands of years, despite our interference.

I really don't give a monkey's about houses being flooded. You built a house by a river? Learn to live with it. It's called nature. It does what it likes, and every time we try to tame it, it will show us who's boss.

Completed.

Although I must say the match anglers love the Tees barrage. They have the back of the peg parking but the burger vans have not arrived...yet

Is the Ribble Fisheries Association involved yet?


Email: ribfish@aol.com

John H. as I know you fished the Tees pre and post barrage, would you like to share you experiences, observations of the impacts its had on that river?

Have all you Ribble anglers taken the time to fill in the survey? It only takes a few moments...

I can't believe anyone in Preston , who has seen Broadgate and surrounding areas in times of high river and big tides , could really think this is feasible.
Perhaps they're not aware of how a spate river works.

I'm sorry Phil, I have only ever fished the Tees once in my life and that was way back in 1978.
I did have a look down the same stretch the supposed 8-10 chub came from the same weekend it was taken on, but didn't want to run the risk of losing my car (I was on my way home from a weekend on the upper Severn)

From all accounts, as I said earlier, the match/pleasure anglers think it's been a blessing; opened up miles of previously unfished tidal water, and they do get some good match weights these days. Pike also seem to be thriving, much to the disgust of the match lads who take great delight in killing most they catch.

The last open match that Yarm AA had on the lower river had 24 double figure nets, I can remember when the AT Winter League matches were won with the odd chub.
We are told that the Tees barrage has not affected the estuary and it's wildlife in any way?

The only problem with all of these developments is when the talk is of 'increased water sports' angling is hardly ever mentioned and is always way down the list of priorities, unless of course when it involves the passage of salmon.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/tees/features/tees_trail/tees_barrage.shtml

One argument put forward for building the Tees was that it would protect the lower river from the very bad pollution caused by the massive chemical site on the estuary, something I suspect the Ribble does not suffer from.

Here is the argument against the Ribble and similar barrages
http://www.indymedia.org.uk/en/regions/liverpool/2007/04/367135.html

Looking at some of the photographs of the lower Ribble on the Save The Ribble site it is a vastly different river to the Tees and any barrage would destroy what looks to be a lovely environment. The lower Tees on the other hand was a mucky stinking open sewer.
I would suspect the major driving force for the Ribble barrage would be profit for the developers and land owners.

I would suspect the major driving force for the Ribble barrage would be profit for the developers and land owners..........

Right on the head of the nail John H