Don't leave the Severn choke

With reference to the letter from Dr D A Evans regarding the work of Severn Navigation Restoration Trust (SNRT), the Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal Society (SWCS) is entirely independent of SNRT, but since the river is of singular strategic significance to the waterway I resent the contents of his letter, which are at best misinformed and at worst mischievous, and cannot go unchallenged.

There is no "fashionable excuse" in any efforts to save a river which has for centuries been systematically abused and which by any yardstick is now in large parts undergoing an unremitting demise.

I offer no opinion as to the merits of SNRT building weirs but the statement that "building weirs to raise the water level will kill its wild and natural beauty" is based on mind-numbing ignorance.

The situation on some sections of the river, and in particular the upper sections, is nothing short of grave and I would welcome more constructive comments as to what can be done rather than the usual blanket swipes of negativity from the anti-navigation lobby.

I would counter Dr Evans' suggestion that "you only have to look at the river at Stourport and below to see how dead the middle and upper reaches would become". This is simply wrong and the EA's own reports show how much more wildlife, including salmon, there is below Stourport in the commercial section than the "wild" portion above.

The key here is active management and it is pretty basic stuff. Waterways do not survive and thrive by being left alone, they must be actively managed or they become choked channels that are of little use to anything but a handful of species.

This is the long-term fate of the magnificent River Severn if left to Dr Evans and his supporters.

I therefore wholeheartedly support his appeal, "Friends of the River Severn beware", although I would do so from an entirely different perspective.

Graham Fisher, Chairman, Staffordshire & Worcestershire Canal Society.

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