Hoveton Great Broad – Temporary Fish Barriers, EPRNB3494JP: Flood risk activity permit consultation

Overview

We are seeking your comments on a flood risk activity permit application received from Natural England for temporary fish barriers at the entrances between Hoveton Great Broad and the Main River Bure.

Both Hoveton Great Broad and Hudson’s Bay require improvements to their ecological condition, despite improvement in the water quality of the adjoining River Bure. It is considered that the reason for the poor condition of the broads is high levels of nutrients bound up in the sediment. The overarching proposal is therefore to remove a significant proportion of nutrient-rich sediment from both Broads. The sediment will be used to create new reedbed habitat within Hoveton Great Broad and widen Wroxham Island.

The lakes will then be isolated from the river and dyke networks and fish temporarily excluded, in order to increase algal grazing and water clarity before allowing fish access to the broad once again. These actions are intended to improve the ecological condition of this designated broad.

This permit application is for the installation of three fish barriers to isolate Hoveton Great Broad from the Main River Bure. These fish barriers are proposed at the following three entrances to Hoveton Great Broad:  Foxburrow dyke (TG32071581), the Dam (TG32421614) and Hoveton marshes (TG31891651). The fish barriers will be in place for up to 10 years.

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Why we are consulting

We are consulting you as your opinion, views and insight are an important part of the consideration process of determining the permit application.

We can take account of

• Relevant environmental regulatory requirements and technical standards.
• Information on local population and sensitive sites.
• Comments on whether the right process is being used for the activity, for example whether the technology is the right one.
• The design of the flood risk activity structures on the site in terms of its potential impact on flood risk and the environment, whether that impact is acceptable and what pollution control or other mitigation measures may be required.
• The impact of noise and other amenity issues from the installation and operation of the flood risk activity structures on the site.
• Permit conditions by providing information that we have not been made aware of in the application, or by correcting incorrect information in the application (e.g. monitoring and techniques to control pollution).

We cannot take account of

• Issues beyond those in the relevant environmental regulations.
• Anything outside the remit of the Environmental Permitting Regulations, e.g. the proposed location of the site, which is done by the local authority via land use planning.
• Whether a site should have a formal designation under Habitats Directive or other conservation legislation.
• Whether the activity should be allowed or not as a matter of principle. For example we will not consider whether wood, gas, or coal should be burnt to produce electricity; only that the options and environmental impact of say wood has been considered. We will not consider whether a waste incinerator proposal should be turned into a sorting and recycle proposal, only that the incinerator options and effect have been considered.
• Land use issues when determining a permit application, even if changing the location of the activity would improve its environmental performance.
• The impact of noise and odour from traffic travelling to and from the site.
• The legally defined process we follow to determine a permit.
• The granting of a permit/variation if the operator is able to demonstrate that they can carry out the activity without significant risk to flooding, the environment or human health.

What happens next

Thank you for visiting our consultation page. This consultation is now closed. We are in the process of considering all received responses and will use these in our determination process.

If you have left your email address we will notify you that our decision has been confirmed and published. We will publish a consultation summary report within 12 weeks of the closing date.

If you have any questions in the meantime, please feel free to get in touch via:

By Email: Enquiries_EastAnglia@environment-agency.gov.uk 

By Telephone: 02084748663

By Post: 

PSO Norfolk & Suffolk
Environment Agency
Dragonfly House
2 Gilders Way
Norwich
NR3 1UB.