Attendence
Alistair Backwell (Friends of Blaise), Alex Dunn (SusWoT), Liz Viggars (SusWoT), Roger Moses (Friends of Badock’s Wood), Bryony Cole (Sea Mills and Coombe Dingle Climate Action Group), Zac Jones (Sustainable Brentry and Henbury), Max Gould (SusWoT), Peter Coleman-Smith (SusWoT), Diana Bunnis (Friends of Blaise), Mark Maggs (Sustainable Brentry and Henbury).
Apologies:
Clarie Miles (Sustainable Southmead),
Alice Clevely (Sustainable Brentry and Henbury)
Discussions & Actions
Reporting Procedures for pollution Incidents
There have been two incidents that have been reported to Wessex Water and or the Environment Agency following the guidance on this website. https://www.troutinthetrym.co.uk/water-quality-reporting/ . Clarie reported prior to the meeting “I have reported pollution at Trowbridge Rd twice. Wessex water have identified a misconnection and served paperwork on the owners”. Jono reported an incident to the EA who investigated and are looking to identify a larger misconnection issue, this is the same issue that Richard Pedlar has been raising.
Following these succesful contacts it was agreed that we could proceed with step two and publicise the Wessex Water and Environment Agency contact numbers to all those people in the Trout in the Trym Group. We would make it clear that speed of reporting and accuracy of location were important if we expected action to follow. We need to develop a reputation for quick accurate reporting as we want to be supportive of the work done to reduce pollution. It was also agreed that each group should start to set up a team of people who will monitor their section of the river looking for pollution incidents.
| Reporting Actions | ||
| What | Who | Progress/action |
| Reporting guidelines | Alex | Send out email to all group leaders asking them to tell their volunteers how to report incidents and to put the key phone numbers on their phones. |
| River Monitoring | All Group Leaders | Set up a network so that the river is monitored for pollution in your area. In time we would want to identify all the sources of pollution that there are and report them appropriately. |
Yellow fish and rain in drain awareness
This activity is due to start next year.
Peter’s Leaflet and the Website
Peter’s leaflet was deemed a great success and should be used as a tool to promote awareness of the improvements in the river and also the need for more to be done. The leaflet will go on the website and investigations made into the cost of printing. Consideration will be given to local distribution and distribution in schools if the price is right.
| Leaflet and Website Actions | ||
| What | Who | Progress/action |
| Suggestions regarding the wildlife | Roger | Roger will offer help with the latest version from Peter, which was distributed on the evening on 9 November by Peter. |
| Printing Costs | Alastair, Peter | Investigate cost of printing. Alastair has a school in mind. |
| Website | Liz | Put Leaflet on the Website. |
Silt Traps and Weirs
The situation with the silt traps and the weirs was discussed. The following were noted. It seems unlikely that volunteers could clear the silt traps. If the silt from the silt traps were to be washed downriver in someway the weirs would trap it and there would be a different problem. Could the pond we allowed to fill in and be planted with native trees and the river diverted around the silt traps? The thing that would really improve the water quality in the river would be the removal of the weirs particularly the one at the confluence.
There are several reasons the weirs will not be removed, the most significant one being the need to prevent flooding, this probably only applies to the one by the Avon. Heritage is another issue.
| Silt Traps and Weirs Actions | ||
| What | Who | Progress/action |
| Could a digger be used to clear the traps? | Roger | Could a digger be used to clear the traps, how much would one from the Levels cost? |
| Can we rmove the weirs in Blaise | Alastair | What can’t we remove the weirs? |
Bristol Avon Catchment Partnerhip
Ruth, Max, Peter and Alex made a video to be shown at the BACP forum on 10 November. The video showed cleaning the river in action and a brief report on what has been done ever the last three years. It is hoped that his publicity will enable TitT to build useful relationships with BACP and its constituent bodies. Alex and Peter attended the forum.
Cleaning the River
Following the video making exercise it is apparant that there is a lot of rubbish in the riverbed that needs to be removed. It was agreed that two activities would be set up to see if some of this cleaning work could be done through the winter. There would be two regular weekly activities and one ad hoc activity organised by Max. Safety is a prime concern and it was agreed that four people needed to be present for these activities to take place. It was agreed that the activities would take place on Friday from 10am to noon and on Sunday from 11am to 1pm. The Ad Hoc activity would be organised by Max and happen when conditions are suitable and Max is able to manage a group.
It should be noted that the groups have all the equipment to run these activities, waders, rope, litter picking equipment and long sleeved gloves.
| River Cleaning Actions | ||
| What | Who | Progress/Action |
| Invite people to sign up | Alex | Alex, in consultation with Max issue produce a suitable email inviting people to volunteer for these two activities. This will be sent to as many people as possible in the groups who might help. |
| Set up Activities | Max + 2 | Depending on the numbers that come forth the activities will be set up and run. |