Extension to dam works threatens breeding season

Pic above: Brent Reservoir midway through dewatering this winter

There is a very real prospect that Canal and River Trust, who are currently spending £750k on Brent Reservoir dam repairs, will twist Natural England's’s arm into a works extension past March 1 and into this year's breeding season. If the extension is permitted and reservoir remains empty of water, the effect on wildlife could be disastrous.

Cool Oak says mothball the works now, allow the reservoir to refill and birds to feed off the small fish from the inflowing rivers, and begin works again in September. It is surely the best option for a key SSSI.

CRT have also made much publicly of their help topping up a local crowd fund to replace the dilapidated tern rafts this spring. If the dam works run over, the rafts won’t go in. New rafts are crucial. Breeding numbers of common tern, a protected bird species that primarily uses the rafts for nesting, are on a knife edge. This could tip them over the edge.

We are urging Natural England not to permit the extension, but to propose a postponement until the autumn.