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Urgent dredging needed on the Chet


Oddfellow

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There is a BA report on this from April 2013. There have been substantial problems, with the danger of banks collapsing if dredging work was carried out as the campaigners would like. It is essential that the banks are stabilised first.

 

This is not just a BA problem, though. The EA and BSEL are also involved. To dredge now would mean closing the river. Is that such a good idea?

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There,s nothing stopping them dredging the basin , it,s banks are not going to collapse, then at least there would be adequate water in the basin to wait for high water, the Chet only does this if conditions are right in the north sea and on a spring tide, but increasingly even under "normal" tidal conditions the river is now very shallow and needs dredging.

At a very least they could dredge from the public moorings to the basin this year??

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I emailed John Packman today about this and the authority is looking to see if there can be any works started as an interim measure whilst the EA continues to dither over its flood defense strategy.

 

We probably need to lobby the Environment Agency.

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:wave after seeing those pictures, it is really worrying, it really does look very shallow on one side & it seems to have spread nearly half way across,which does'nt give you much room for manouver on  the mooring side, & we go up there every year to see caroline, but i would be abit worried about going up there with it like that, & getting stuck with a hire boat,  i'm sure the people who live ther can't be too chuffed about having their boats sat on the mud & not being able to use their boat, i have shared the info on fbook. lori  :Stinky

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Without opening a big can of worms is that not the side opposite the BA basin? And if so is it not private moorings? If so who is responsible for the dredging?

And just to add at Easter (maybe two weeks prior to the photo being taken, which as we know was an extremely low tide) we took Thunder up there and arrived about low tide and had no problems.

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  • 2 weeks later...

Hi all, having cruised the Chet 4 times last week, i can say without doubt the Chet is WAY OVERDUE for some serious maintainance. in many locations, the piling is derilict, while in others the company who were responsible for doing the flood defence work have been neglegent, resulting in the destruction of quite a length of piling. There seems to be more and more shallow water marker posts springing up, with the depth of water after Pye`s mill moorings at low tide causing boats to ground. In fact, as we were just about to leave to come home yesterday morning, one of Maffett cruisers boats ran aground, as there`s a sort of "mud beach" developing.  For many decades, the banks of the Chet have been stable, with no signs of bank errosion, without the need for specialist bank re-construction, so what`s so special now?. The southern rivers have seen a dramatic downturn in river traffic in recent years, which is possibly why the BA have done nothing to ensure the continuation of essential maintainance of the Chet, resulting in incidents like huge planks of piling coming adrift, and floating midstream, and nearly being impaled in the hulls boats, just like we had last week. Unfortunately, i could`nt reach down far enough to pull it out.

 

This is only one area where the BA are faining miserably in their legal duty to ensure the rivers are maintained to a navigational standard at ALL STATES OF TIDE. It`s no wonder local politicians are starting to ask questions about how the BA are conducting themselves, AND what they are doing with toll payers money.

 

We`ll be back up there in October, so i`l see if they`ve done anything to rectify the situation.

 

 

Regards to all ................... Neil.

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.... in many locations, the piling is derilict, ... For many decades, the banks of the Chet have been stable, with no signs of bank errosion, without the need for specialist bank re-construction, so what`s so special now?. ... incidents like huge planks of piling coming adrift, and floating midstream, and nearly being impaled in the hulls boats, just like we had last week. 

 

Haven't you answered your own question? For decades, the banks have been kept in place by piling. For a number of reasons, that now-decaying hard piling is not being replaced (those reasons are available in BA reports). Soft profiling is the cost-effective, eco-friendly, flavour of the month, but, before that can be done, serious stabilisation DOES need to be carried out (the reasons are to be found in the BA report, dated April 2013 - which is on their web site).

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The responsibilities of the Broads Authority towards the navigation are set out in the Norfolk & Suffolk Broads Act 1988.

 

Section 10

 

Functions of Authority and others in relation to the navigation area.

(1)The Authority shall—

(a)maintain the navigation area for the purposes of navigation to such standard as appears to it to be reasonably required; and

(b)take such steps to improve and develop it as it thinks fit.

 

Section 1(1) of Part 1 of Schedule 5

 

For the purpose of enabling the Authority to carry out its functions in relation to the navigation area, the Authority may provide such facilities, and construct, alter or renew such works, as it thinks fit, but shall not do so on any land which does not belong to it except where it has the consent in writing of the owner and (where the owner is not the occupier) that of the occupier.

 

Section  2(1) of that Schedule

 

The Authority may—(a)deepen, dredge, scour or excavate any part of the navigation area;

 

I can’t find anywhere where it is said that it is the Authority’s  “legal duty to ensure the rivers are maintained to a navigational standard at ALL STATES OF TIDE.”

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Having attended the BA meeting on Saturday morning, I can confirm that it is planned to complete the dredging upto and including the mooring basin before the end of 2014. It was explained in some detail the reasons for the delays which include working with the local land owners and the EA. When completed, the steel posts near to the entrance to the Yare will be removed too. :clap

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When you say the steel posts , do you mean the posts similar to Breydon Water or do you mean the good moorings by Hardley Cross.   ?

 

Can I ask how did the meeting go.   We could not attend but have been waiting to hear how it went.

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HI M. Yes, the BIG posts! Always been a big issue with me!!

Once the work had been done I wondered why they left them there when surely they was no longer any need?

It was me that asked about the removal of those posts  :pirate

We thought it went well and we learnt quite a lot from it, but not as much as we would have liked due to time restraints.

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Thank you for letting me know that it went well,   I am pleased about that and thank you for attending.       Me thinks that business' on the Chet will not be too happy if they have to wait until 2014 to have it dredged , that is as they say (not very ladylike I know but)they are pulling ones plonker.

 

That effectively means this Summer  that not only do the business people down there have to cling on but next years Summer trade as well.    I appreciate it will be a big task but the sooner they get on with it the better.     

 

Having seen dredging and removal of piling on the Yare which where they were doing it  appeared to be  entirely unnecessary, could not that job wait and the Chet be a number one priority.        The Chet has everything going for it.      Picturesque,   lot of shops that boaters need, good pubs etc.  

 

We can but hope.

 

We managed to sort out the double mooring saga and has been said already we need to get behind the push to get the Chet dredged now.    

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It cannot be done any sooner unfortunately. Arrangements with land owners to get access for the machinery, Planning dept, Environment Agency etc. take a lot of time to sort out.

The ronds have to be built up and stabilised before any dredging or piling work can begin or it will fall back in before they even finish.

The Hardley Weir work had to be done before any further work upstream of it could begin. This will ensure that the tidal flow in and out will help to stop any further silting instead of the tide disappearing into Hardley Flood each tide.

I Emailed them twice 2yrs ago regarding removal of overhanging branches and trees making some areas of the Chet a one width navigation channel. Never got a reply either time......

Upstream of the pub at Coltishall to the lock was mentioned too, but is not on the present agenda.  :cry

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We managed to sort out the double mooring saga and has been said already we need to get behind the push to get the Chet dredged now.    

 

If any pushing needs to be done, it needs to be done against the Environment Agency, to get on with stabilising the banks, so that the BA can proceed with the dredging...    :)

 

 

edit - Blast, Bill beat me to it by one minute....

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:wave hi all, is'nt there any way we could get a petition up to push these people into pulling their fingers out  ? it's not going to be very nice if loddon starts losing business,  & it must aweful for the people that live there, & not being able to move their boats because they are sat on silt,surely they can't expect them to just sit looking at their boats for another year, & still pay their river licences, i think i'd be livid , lori  :Stinky

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