Locally details are available from Peter Fox or John Fisher

See Bird Notes for birds sighted on the Ver near Redbourn

See: - Ver Valley Website

The Ver Valley Society

The Ver Valley Society holds four open meetings every year at different venues along the Ver Valley. On Tuesday July 22 our meeting is at Markyate Village Hall starting at 7.30. There is no admission charge and non members are always most welcome, but of course we hope they will take up membership which is only £5 per annum or £20 for 5 years.

The first part of the meeting is to give news of Ver Valley matters and to answer any questions from members or guests. We then break for tea or coffee. Freshly baked bread from Redbournbury Mill will be on sale during the interval.

For the second part of the evening we have a really outstanding speaker in John Wyatt who comes from Tring. His talk is entitled “The Chilterns Experience” and will be an introduction to the birds, butterflies, plants and animals of the Chilterns showing just how diverse and beautiful our flora and fauna still are in spite of all the threats facing this special chalk habitat.

I first met John on a cruise down the Nile some 10 years ago. John is now a largely retired professional ornithologist, naturalist, photographer and wildlife tour leader. His trip to Egypt led to a long term interest as he now describes himself as an “Ornitho- Egyptologist” working fulltime to complete a book entitled “The Birds of Ancient Egypt”. He reckons this will keep him fully occupied until he is 136!

John slides are superb and his knowledge of our local natural history is second to none. If you are interested in nature you should not miss this evening.

The Ver Valley Society has a web site which contains lots of information and pictures.

If you have any comments or queries about the meeting or membership please phone me 01582 792843 or email john.fisher@btclick.com.

John Fisher

2 June 2008

We, the Ver Valley Society, understand that St. Albans District Council’s planners fear that “major problems” would be caused by the East of England Regional Assembly scheme which would result in an additional 79,600 new homes in Herts by 2021. They are not alone!

This housing scheme, part of the wider national planning for future housing requirements for the entire east region, is now out for consultation by the general public. There are a number of very important basic factors that all of us should be holding in the forefront of our minds when considering these plans, for they will, be in no doubt, have a huge impact on life in this area as we and our children now know it.

It is essential that there is as much constructive public debate as possible concerning the issues surrounding how society deals with consequences of the EERA proposals. Our specific concerns are for the future of the Ver Valley, and we try very hard to approach development considerations in an informed and balanced way, fully recognising that there is a very serious requirement for housing development in this region.

Absolutely basic to all our needs is access to a reliable supply of good, clean water. It is no exaggeration to state that if development on anything like the scale proposed, without major changes to the water supply infrastructure in the 100sq km or so which constitute the groundwater catchment area of the river Ver, this lovely chalk stream will die.

The situation is made more acute by the unsustainable rise in the daily consumption of water in this area, which now stands at 191 litres per day per head. This rising figure is some 28% above the national average.

Added to this is the fact that our area is enduring a prolonged spell of record breaking dryness. In fact we are as dry as some parts of North Africa. We receive only about half the annual rainfall as that of the rest of the British Isles. This very winter so far is heading toward one of the driest ever in the Ver Valley since records began.

More water is abstracted from the Ver Valley catchment, the underlying chalk aquifer, than is replaced by annual rainfall. The figure presently stands at some 30,000000 litres per day being pumped from the chalk groundwater and into the public supply system. Yet there is presently no statutory requirement for developers to take account of water demand in their planning!

Our supplier, Three Valleys Water Company, are obliged by statute to supply water as required by householders and businesses in its area. They are a responsible company, and as concerned as we are for the future life of our unique and historic river system.

The Ver Valley Society was formed over 25 years ago, at a time when the river was dying from over abstraction, the valley over intensively farmed, the precious wetland habitat being lost to drainage schemes, and many floodplain development threats. We were instrumental in persuading the newly formed National Rivers Authority, forerunners of the Environment Agency, to institute a river rescue plan centred around the shutting down of the largest pumping station, at Friars Wash, north of Redbourn, and placing it on standby only. The replacement water came from an expensive new supply link to Graffam Water. This scheme has been hugely encouraging, but only partially successful. Even without the EERA plans, the Ver is still dying, and in urgent need of a further low flow alleviation scheme.

A great deal of the water abstracted from the Ver catchment ends up in the river Lea, via Luton, Dunstable, and the sewage system after we have used it. This situation is unsustainable. The public as well as the planners should be aware of these facts.

All of us, especially those we elect to represent us locally, nationally, and internationally, should be asking ourselves this stark question:- does it matter if the Ver, and for that matter all the other unique and precious Chiltern chalk streams die, along with their special and unique bio-diversity. These chalk streams are globally rare, and are the European equivalent of the rain forests in bio-diversity terms. There is indeed a great deal to lose. Far too much to set out here, but the whole quality of life for all living things, not least our children and grandchildren is under threat if we fail to take account of the long term consequences of apathetically failing to give proper consideration to protecting our environment.

The Ver Valley Society was born to the slogan of “KEEP THE VER FLOWING” That slogan is appropriate now as never before. Please contact us for more information, particularly if you would like to join us in our ongoing battle to save the Ver. You can contact us on 01582 793303 or 792843.

Yours sincerely, Peter Fox, Hon Sec V V S

See Also: - River Ver, River Red, Three Mills And Two Rivers Walk, Redbournbury Mill, Village Of The Year 2003