Company pleads guilty to damaging river habitat

Occupiers of a quarry near Bodmin were fined £13,000 and ordered to pay £6,000 costs when they pleaded guilty to causing damage to a nationally and internationally important wildlife site in Cornwall in a hearing today, Monday 16 February 2004, at Liskeard Magistrates’ Court. The company was also ordered to carry out restoration works at their own expense.

Ennstone Breedon Limited, based in Derbyshire, occupies Hantergantick Quarry, part of which lies within the River Camel Valley and Tributaries Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) near Bodmin.

The Court heard how in March 2003, a contractor carried out stone crushing at Hantergantick Quarry without the supervision of Ennstone Breedon Limited. Although a buffer zone had been established as a condition of a planning permission granted in 1998 to protect the SSSI, material from the quarry was tipped close to the river. This caused damage to over 1,700 square meters of bankside vegetation and polluted the De Lank River.

The River Camel Valley and Tributaries SSSI is internationally important for providing an unspoilt riverside corridor which supports significant populations of Atlantic salmon, bullhead and otter. The De Lank River forms part of the SSSI and is nationally important for its rich aquatic plant life and woodland habitat.

English Nature applied to the Court for a restoration order which was granted. As a consequence, Ennstone Breedon Limited has to restore the site at their expense, but under the supervision of English Nature. English Nature believes that the riverside habitat will recover over time if the original scree slope is re-established and woodland is allowed to recolonise the bank.

Commenting after the hearing, Dr Andy Clements, Director Designated Sites at English Nature said, “English Nature works with over 32,000 owners, occupiers and land managers of SSSIs in order to conserve England’s wildlife for future generations. In a minority of cases, where the legislation to protect SSSIs is not complied with, we have no option but to take a robust approach and use our enforcement powers. This case sends a strong message to owners and occupiers of SSSIs that they must inform any person or company working on their land of the SSSI designation and what this entails”.

Notes for editors

1. SSSIs are notified and afforded protection under the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 as substituted by Schedule 9 to the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000. This places legal obligations on owners and occupiers of land within SSSIs and on public bodies. It also creates an offence of damage and disturbance caused by third parties.

2. The legislation prohibits owners or occupiers of land notified as a SSSI from carrying out, causing or permitting to be carried out, any operations specified in the SSSI notification unless they have given prior written notice to English Nature. These operations can then only be carried out with English Nature’s written consent, or within the terms of an existing management agreement, management scheme or management notice with English Nature. Any contravention of this legal obligation is a criminal offence.

3. The River Camel Valley and Tributaries SSSI is an internationally important river corridor noted for its extensive woodland, providing excellent bankside cover which support a number of important species including otter and rare greater and lesser horseshoe bats. The De Lank River which forms part of the SSSI is nationally important as an outstanding upland acid river. The bankside supports both ancient oak woodland and wet grey willow and alder woodland. The river supports an exceptionally rich flora of more than 70 species, which includes over 30 species of bryophyte.

4. A condition within the 1998 planning permission for Hantergantick Quarry required the creation of a buffer zone in which no extraction or tipping of material may take place. The buffer zone was established to protect the De Lank River from damage by quarrying activities.

5. Section 31 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 as substituted by Schedule 9 to the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 enables the Court to make a Restoration Order specifying operations for the purpose of restoring the SSSI to its former condition prior to the damage occurring. Some restoration work has already been carried out on the site to remove the danger of further material entering the river. Additional restoration will involve the reinstatement of boulders to form a scree slope to encourage the re-establishment of woodland and willow scrub habitat. Monitoring and additional small-scale management will also be required over a period of time. If the terms of the Restoration Order are not complied with, English Nature may enter the land and carry out those operations, recovering expenses from the person against whom the Restoration Order was made. It also an offence, without reasonable excuse, not to comply with the terms of the Restoration Order.

6. Matthew Boyer, solicitor, 20 Southernhay West, Exeter, Devon, EX1 1PR, telephone 01392 272100, acted on English Nature’s behalf in this case.