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A blended farming enterprise has been ordered to pay £66,000 for damaging wildlife habitats on a Norfolk river regardless of already paying £400,000 to rectify the injury.
Paul Rackham Ltd of Manor Farm, Bridgham, dredged and reprofiled the banks of the Little Ouse River at its Lodge Farm Property, Gasthorpe, in 2018.
The work was carried out with out a allow and disrupted water vole burrows alongside a 1.5-mile stretch of the river. Vegetation from the river and the financial institution was additionally eliminated.
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The injury prompted in October and December 2018 was found in January 2019 by an Surroundings Company official.
Officers visited the location once more in February 2019 and located that vegetation and timber had been faraway from the location.
Firm director Paul Rackham senior ceased the work as quickly as he was made conscious it wanted a allow. However water vole habitats and invertebrate populations on the Norfolk Flood Plain had been significantly broken and fell dramatically.
At Norfolk Crown Courtroom on 30 March the corporate pleaded responsible to working a regulated facility, opposite to Regulation 12(1) and 38(1)(a) of the Environmental Allowing (England and Wales) Rules 2016.
Nonetheless, the agency stated it was unaware it wanted a allow and had obtained flood defence consent from the Surroundings Company prior to now.
Reckless
Throughout the listening to, the courtroom was additionally advised {that a} £400,000 remediation scheme would “more than likely lead to an total enhancement to the native atmosphere”.
Nonetheless, Decide Bacon QC determined the farm had acted recklessly in finishing up the work with out first acquiring a allow.
The choose handed down a £17,000 positive, which included a 20% credit score for the corporate’s responsible plea and mitigation within the type of vital remediation work. The corporate agreed to pay £49,000 in the direction of prosecution prices.
Norfolk flood danger officer Naomi Daniel urged farm companies to acquire the right permits to make sure no environmental injury is prompted.
“On this case, the actions of the corporate prompted severe injury to the native ecosystem and endangered water voles, which can take time to revive,” Ms Daniel stated.
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