KINGSLAND farmer John Price says he will “pull the authorities apart” if they take him to court for the work he has done on the river Lugg.
He was speaking after a huge local and national row broke out after pictures were published showing a bank of the river bulldozed clear of vegetation.
Herefordshire Wildlife Trust said an “enchanting” reach of the river and its banks had been straightened and reprofiled into a sterile canal, with wildlife habitats obliterated.
But Mr Price, who is 66, says he has looked after the river all his life and was only doing a job he was told to do.
He claims the work he has done on the riverbanks is legal and it is meant to save local homes from flooding, and he has the backing of local councillors.
Natural England, the Environment Agency and the Forestry Commission say the works required permission and they currently investigating.
“They are not going to beat me,” Mr Price said.
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“They don’t know who they’ve taken on here. I’ll pull them apart.
“They’ll know who I am by the time I’ve finished with them.
“I’ll look after the local Environment Agency and Forestry Commission.
“I’m not happy about this. I’ll get them to lose their jobs.”
Mr Price said he was asked by the Environment Agency to clear the third archway under the bridge over the Lugg near Kingsland.
“I’m the most reasonable man in the world. I’ll do anything for anybody,” he said.
“I’ve done a lot of work on rivers, and I’ve never been so legal on a job. People think I’m above the law but I’m not. I’m totally with the law.
“I’m only doing work which I’ve been told to do. I’m probably the only person in England who’s got a felling licence for trees on a site of special scientific interest.
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“All I had was a phone call at the beginning of November saying they wanted to clear out the archway.
“But I said I’ve got work to do in the river. I’ll do the archway at the same time because I’ve got the kit here. They said will you do it for us? I said yes.
“When you have erosion, it deposits on the other side of the river so you’ve got to put that back.
“We do it every year. This is on a gravel bed Kingsland. I’ve done the best job of a bad job.
“Because it was only eight months since we had the biggest flood in history and that river was going off track.”
“I did this job because I was in breach because of the erosion on the river which is a site of special scientific interest. So I got a bulldozer to put it right.
“We were cutting trees down, putting the erosion right, and cleaning the third arch out for them for free.
“As a result of that, I did a bit of work on my side to get the water underneath the arch.
“If this goes to court, I will defend myself.”
Bircher ward county councillor Sebastian Bowen said the situation is more complicated than people think.
He said the parish council had been calling on the Environment Agency for more than five years for action to protect nearby cottages from flooding.
“They never came until late this September,” coun Bowen said.
“They sent about three people along and we spent a morning discussing the issues with some of the parish council, I was there too, along with some of the local residents.
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“Eventually, the Environment Agency people came up and said they could see what some of the problems are.
“The third arch is completely blocked. There’s build up of silt on the banks which needs clearing away to get better access to the water and to get it away so it doesn’t build up and flood.
“They made these suggestions and then they said they would like the local farmer to do it for them, if that is at all possible. They didn’t say anything about permits, permissions or anything like that at all.
“Just get him to do it and that will be fine.
“John Price, who is the local farmer, did it completely pro-bono.”
A spokesman confirmed that the Environment Agency had had discussions with Kingsland Parish Council and local landowners about flooding and pollution and offered advice and guidance.
“However, the works undertaken would require a permit under the Environmental Permitting Regulations and no such permit has been issued,” he said.
“Natural England, the Environment Agency and the Forestry Commission are currently investigating the full circumstances of this significant incident stretching over a mile long section of the River Lugg.
“This is a live investigation, which may lead to legal action and as such further details cannot be shared at this time.
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“Natural England, the Environment Agency and the Forestry Commission, rely on members of the public reporting possible illegal activity and pollutions.
“In this case, the Environment Agency was contacted by a member of the public on the 26 November.
“Action to stop any work was taken the following day. It is currently too early to say what the environmental impact of any damage may be.”
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