Winter Cleansing

The Board carries out cleansing (also referred to as de-silting, mudding or dredging) of selected watercourses during the winter every year in order to remove sediment that has built up. This is essential to maintain the capacity of the watercourses and provide effective drainage to the required standard.

Further information about Cleansing/Dredging can be found in the ADA publication: Dredging: the views and experiences of Internal Drainage Boards.

Winter Cleansing Works 2023/24

Notice letters are in preparation and will be issued to the relevant occupiers by the end of September 2023. A plan showing the side of each watercourse to be accesssed will be lincluded.

Compensation

Crop Loss

The Board will only pay crop loss compensation to the ratepayer if a field is cropped at the time the work is carried out and the work causes damage to the crop or coverage of the crop with arisings from the works. There is a twelve month cut off date for claiming compensation following any such crop damage.

The crop loss compensation rate for Winter Cleansing 2018/19 is £1,310 per hectare (for all crops).

Land Loss

The Board will pay land loss compensation to the landowner for widths lost greater than 500mm. The compensation forms will be posted in the first instance to the ratepayer; if they are not the landowner the ratepayer must immediately inform the Board and forward the documentation to the landowner. There is a twelve month cut off date for claiming compensation following any such land loss.

The land loss compensation rates for 2016/17 are shown in the table below: