Environment Agency Threatens Paul Powlesland With Prosecution Over 200-Bag River Roding Cleanup
Updated
Updated · The Guardian · Jun 17
Environment Agency Threatens Paul Powlesland With Prosecution Over 200-Bag River Roding Cleanup
2 articles · Updated · The Guardian · Jun 17
Summary
A letter from the Environment Agency says Paul Powlesland is under investigation after volunteers removed 200 bags of rubbish, branches and silt from Alders Brook over 10 days earlier this year.
The agency alleges the work amounted to unpermitted dredging and waste activity in a flood plain, potentially breaching 2016 environmental permitting rules and creating flood-risk concerns.
Powlesland says he repeatedly asked the EA to clear the River Roding before organizing the cleanup, and argues the restored stretch is already recovering with wildlife returning.
The dispute lands amid wider criticism of enforcement on the Roding, where illegal dumping is under investigation and campaigners say sewage outfalls release more than 750,000 litres of raw sewage a year.