The State of the Adur: the good news and the bad
The River Adur is a precious natural resource and one of the defining features of our local landscape. But what sort of shape is it in? The picture is decidedly mixed. We hear worrying reports about pollution in the river. In the longer term, there’s rising sea levels to think about, as the effects of climate change kick in. But at the same time there’s been encouraging news of a number of ambitious initiatives along the river designed to protect nature and enhance the Adur’s role as a wildlife corridor.
To help put this all in perspective, Greening Steyning has invited local rivers expert, Pete King, to give a talk on 'the State of the Adur'.
Pete is Director of the Ouse and Adur Rivers Trust, an organisation set up in 2011 to protect and enhance the quality of these two rivers. He knows the Adur from top to bottom and is uniquely placed to provide us with an overview of both the good news and the bad. He’ll also be able to suggest ideas on what we in the local community can do to put pressure on tackling pollution and to get behind initiatives that will improve the health of our local river ecosystem.
As part of his talk he’ll be updating us on what’s happening at Bramber Brooks, with the new wildlife ponds, or ‘scrapes’, that have been dug this summer by the Environment Agency. He’s also be able to brief us on latest developments with the Adur River Recovery Project, and the Weald to Waves initiative, two of the most ambitious landscape-level nature recovery projects in the country.
On the less pleasant side, he’ll be sharing latest data on sewage and farm run-off in the river and talking about why it’s happening and what it’s going to take to deal with these.
Since we’re focusing on the river, we’ll also be giving an update on the White Bridge Link project to connect up Steyning and Upper Beeding with an all-weather foot and cycle path. This was stopped in its tracks when the bridge was closed last summer when structural defects were discovered. But there’s better news on the horizon, with a new bridge due to be installed in 2025.
Everyone with an interest in the river is invited to join us. The talk is at the Steyning Centre on Wednesday 30th October, with doors and bar opening at 19:30.
Tickets cost £3 and can be booked online from: www.greeningsteyning.org/events
Photograph: Nick Mills