Dumfries water works cost college £2,900 fine

5 January 2012

A Dumfries college that specialises in training and education for the land-based and animal care industries was fined £2,900 on 23 December 2011, after unauthorised work was carried out on a local watercourse.

The Board of Management at Barony College pled guilty at Dumfries Sheriff Court to failing to comply with their water use licence by carrying out gravel movement in the Water of Ae. The matter was investigated by the Scottish Environment Protection Agency (SEPA) and River Annan District Salmon Fishery Board and reported to the Procurator Fiscal.

On 16 June 2009, SEPA officers attended a site meeting at Carse of Ae Fish Farm with a college representative to discuss repairs to the river bank, which was eroded near the fish farm.

After inspecting the river bank, it was agreed that:

  • Two lengths of bank required repair.
  • The work should be completed by the end of August for fishery reasons (subsequently extended to the end of September).
  • A licence was required from SEPA.

An application for a licence under the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2005, known as CAR, was received with information completed for 600 metres of grey bank reinforcement on both banks of the river. The applicant stated on the form that "[although] historically gravel movement was used in this area, this is not considered appropriate". In August 2009, SEPA granted a water use licence to Barony College authorising the work.

On 1 October SEPA Officers re-visited the locus to examine the completed work. They contacted the college to express concern at the fact that extensive gravel movement had been carried out in the river bed, which was contrary to what was agreed and well out with the scope of the licence. 

To assess the impact extent and impact of the river engineering work, SEPA officers walked the stretch of the Water of Ae from the A701 road bridge to the road bridge near Shieldhill. An ecology report was compiled which clearly demonstrated that a large amount of unauthorised work had been carried out, namely extensive amounts of gravel movement along a 900 metre section of the river bed. A biological survey of the Water of Ae was also carried out which confirmed the loss of fish habitats.

Shona McFarlane, one of SEPA's environment protection officers, said:

"It is vital that any work carried out in a watercourse has prior agreement from SEPA and that licence conditions, which are set to minimise any impact on the environment, are followed. Potential adverse impacts from work can include increased bank erosion downstream due to faster river flow, damage to potential fish spawning areas and hindrance to downstream spring migration of salmon smolts due to wide shallow river channel."

Nick Chisholm, Director River Annan Fisheries Board, said:

"It is deeply disappointing that Barony College carried out such works in contravention of environmental legislation; we would hope that a college that is training our future land managers would be operating to the very best environmental standards. The Fisheries Board will always seek to help land managers carry out work within and around rivers that are sustainable and have a positive impact upon both the businesses adjacent to the river and on the health of the river. In this instance whilst advice was sought at an early stage it was not followed. As a result we are very pleased to see that there has been a successful prosecution and hope that it will act as a deterrent to anyone else who thinks that they can operate like this. The river will recover in time but it is critical that natural processes are allowed to continue for this to happen."

Ends

Notes to editors

The exact charge that The Board of Management of Barony College pled guilty to was:

  • Between 12 August 2009 and 01 October 2009 ,both dates inclusive, at Carse of Ae, Lochmaben, Lockerbie, you The Board of Management of Barony College, Parkgate, Dumfries did fail to comply with a water use licence, namely CAR Licence reference CAR/L/1061167 in that between the dates libelled you did carry on a controlled activity, namely gravel movement in inland water, namely the Water of Ae whereby significant impact on the water environment was caused. CONTRARY to Regulation 40 (1) (d) of the Water Environment (Controlled Activities) (Scotland) Regulations 2005 and Section 20(1) of the Water Environment and Water Services (Scotland) Act 2003