Farmer fights order to undo brook straightening

A farmer has appealed against an enforcement order from a council telling him to reverse his straightening of a brook by a flood-prone village.

William Lyke was served a legal notice in May by Herefordshire Council, requiring him to reinstate the Wellington Brook west of Canon Pyon back to its original, meandering course.

The authority said at the time it "holds no record of any consent or approval" for the work to remove a wide bend in the brook and its bordering vegetation between two fields.

"Alterations to watercourses, including modifications such as straightening or culverting, can increase flood risk both locally and downstream," a spokesperson explained.

The council gave Lyke 28 days to comply with the notice, otherwise "the council may carry out the works in default and recover all reasonable costs from the landowner", and this "may give rise to prosecution".

Now a court register has revealed that an appeal against the enforcement was to be heard at Herefordshire Magistrates' Court within the Hereford Justice Centre on 4 August.

But it was adjourned until 1 September, the agreed reason being recorded simply as "non-standard".

Lyke declined to comment on the case.

This news was gathered by the Local Democracy Reporting Service which covers councils and other public service organisations.

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