Conserving Coniston & Crake and SCRT are looking to improve salmon & trout migration by removing a small, redundant weir on Torver Beck and now need help to determine ownership of both the weir and river bed.

Currently the four main landowners adjacent to the weir have been consulted regarding ownership, including Sunny Bank Mill and the Lake District National Park Authority but none are claiming ownership of either the weir or the bed. Land registry searches have also failed to confirm ownership. Consequently we are asking for anyone who knows of the ownership of this weir and river bed to come forward as soon as possible.

Salmon and trout are declining species and barriers to migration and quality of spawning sites are just two of the reasons for this decline. Removing the weir should lead to increased numbers of adult fish reaching their spawning grounds further upstream, in particularly to Mere Beck on Torver Low Common. Additionally, the passage of young fish heading out to sea will be eased, as they can become trapped upstream of the weir in drought conditions preventing successful migration to sea. The removal of the weir will also help to re-naturalise the river bed but may have a slight affect on the appearance of the beck at this point, reducing the size of the holding pool as well as reducing the regularity and quantity of water flowing down the old mill leat of Sunny Bank Mill.

The project will be undertaken primarily by hand by local volunteer groups, coordinated by CC&C and SCRT.

We will soon be applying to the Lake District National Park Authority for planning permission to carry out the removal of the weir for this vital migratory fish access improvement and habitat enhancement work.

If you want to discuss the project further or know of possible weir and river bed ownership then please contact Dr. Mike West, Project Officer, Conserving Coniston & Crake. Email: mike.west@scrt.co.uk Office: 015395 30047 Mobile: 07780 475216

The map shows the location of Sunny Bank Weir (marked red). The confirmed land ownership is shown as diagonal lines, centred around the weir. Land ownership details are required for the weir, the river bed and the land to the north of the river (area not covered by diagonal line shading)