'River is flowing better than it has for 25 years'

A river is flowing better than it has for a quarter of a century after a major restoration but the next stage of works will be "really critical", according to a parish councillor.

Water levels in the River Deben in Suffolk dropped by more than a metre after heavy rain caused a weir structure at Ufford, near Woodbridge, to fall away and a bridge to partially collapse.

While they are still to be fixed, water in the river is again running freely after a multi-agency and community effort saw vital excavations and tree removal take place.

Councillor David Finley, river warden at Ufford Parish Council, said it was a "really exciting moment to actually see the water flowing" again.

"This section of the river used to be cleaned out every five to 10 years, so it's not been like this for 25 years," he said.

"Now, you can see gravel bits and silt bits, and so it's actually creating a really potentially dynamic river."

The collapse in April caused a water-filled crater known as Ufford Hole to drain on to surrounding land, including on a side channel towards the East Suffolk railway line.

It happened after tree roots grew into the weir, which subsequently "fell to pieces", Finley said, resulting in "all the water" rushing towards the Hawkeswade/Lower Ufford Bridge which "cracked" it.

The Essex & Suffolk Rivers Trust said it caused "significant damage to habitats along a large stretch of the river".

A wooden walkway next to the bridge, which allows people to follow a footpath on the river bank, had to be closed off and it is still awaiting repair.

Trevor Gill, from the Lower Deben Riparian Owners Group, said the collapse had a detrimental effect on biodiversity.

"It had a really big impact on nature, but also on people who love this, people who've been fishing and swimming here for decades," he said.

"People were worried about fish dying, which did happen, and it was pretty barren.

"What we've done so far shows people that we are here to get behind this problem and fix it."

After the incident, councils and a consortium of landowners and farmers worked with the Environment Agency and others to form an action plan.

The first phase of that focused on clearing the dried-out channel from Old Melton Mill to Ufford Hole to allow water to flow back to the mill.

Now that has been achieved, attention has turned to repairing the weir before the "winter flood" and also the footpath to restore access.

"The really critical bit is getting this weir sorted out so the water doesn't just accelerate the channel and create real problems further down the river," Finley said.

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