Aquatic plants in an English chalk stream by Linda Pitkin/2020Vision
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Save our Chalk Streams
Currently, only 11 out of 220 British chalk streams have any legal protections, and even these fall short of the measures needed to defend these rivers.
The Government has a valuable opportunity to stand up for our chalk streams in their planning policy reforms. We are calling on them to introduce specific legal protections in planning for all of our chalk streams, to protect them from development-related harm.
Our chalk streams need protecting
England's chalk streams are one of the rarest habitats on earth! Their crystal-clear waters are home for salmon, water voles, white-clawed crayfish and kingfishers, making them our equivalent to the Great Barrier Reef or the Amazon Rainforest. A truly special habitat that we are lucky to enjoy.
Yet many of our chalk stream rivers are now polluted, dirty and choked by pollution, threatening the wildlife that calls them home and the people that rely on them for their wellbeing. The Government must introduce specific protections for all chalk streams in their planning reforms, to ensure these unique habitats are conserved and put into recovery for future generations.
How can chalk streams be protected?
Some chalk streams have been given Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) status but this designation is not well-suited to protecting those chalk streams which are heavily influenced by activities across their catchments. New protections in planning will safeguard all chalk streams and give them a chance to recover.
We are calling for bespoke protection for our chalk streams, as outlined by the CaBA Chalk Stream Restoration Strategy.
These protections must:
- Introduce a 50m minimum ‘no development zone’ buffer as recommended by Natural England.
- Redefine chalk streams and their catchments as ‘irreplaceable habitats’, alongside ancient woodland, with stronger wording to protect chalk streams throughout national planning policy guidelines.
- Encourage parallel investment in water supply and treatment infrastructure as a condition of planning approval.
Tell the Government to Save our Chalk Streams
We are calling for new legal protections in planning policy for all chalk streams, to grant them a more consistent, stronger protection as irreplaceable habitats, introducing ‘no development’ buffer zones and restoring England's richest chalk streams to be clean, healthy, and full of life again. Please ask your MP to become a champion for chalk streams and advocate for stronger protections for these rare habitats.
Click below to find the contact details for your local MP.
The Letcombe Brook running through BBOWT's Letcombe Valley nature reserve. Picture: M Bailey
Chalk streams near you
Among the glorious rivers we have in our three counties are some of the country’s most beautiful chalk streams.
In Oxfordshire, the Letcombe Brook and Chalgrove Brook are both chalk streams; Berkshire is home to the Pang, Kennet, Aldbourne, Dun and Lambourne, while Buckinghamshire boasts the Chess, Misbourne and Wye.
FAQs
Why are chalk streams special?
With only around 220 existing worldwide, these cool, fresh, oxygen-rich waters provide the perfect habitat for rare British species like water vole, southern chalk stream Atlantic salmon, brown trout, southern damselfly, water crowfoot, and white-clawed crayfish.
Over 85% of the 220 chalk streams in the world are found in the South of England, truly one of the rarest habitats on the planet. They are also incredibly rich in life; home to more species of plants than any other English river and include species found nowhere else. They are England's equivalent to the Great Barrier Reef or the Amazon Rainforest: a truly special natural heritage and our responsibility.
How are chalk streams under threat?
England's rarest habitat and richest chalk streams should be clear, and sparkling with vitality. Instead they are becoming clogged and choked by toxic chemicals, fertilisers and sewage. Drought and over consumption are draining the life out of rivers, with devastating consequences for the wildlife and people that rely on them.
Healthy rivers are vital for our water supply, our food security and our ability to withstand a changing climate. We can't allow the abuse of these vital life support systems to continue.
Do any chalk streams have protection?
Currently, only 11 out of the 220 British chalk streams have any legal protections as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). These are Berkshire and Wiltshire’s Kennet, Hampshire’s Test, Somerset’s Frome, Dorset’s Bere Stream, Norfolk’s Nar, Yorkshire’s Hull headwaters and Greater London’s Crane.
Only 4 are protected as Special Areas of Conservation (SAC), a higher level of protection: Berkshire’s Lambourn, Hampshire and Wiltshire‘s Avon, Hampshire’s Itchen and Norfolk’s Wensum. But while these protections are helping to keep these rivers in a better state than chalk streams that are not protected, we need stronger regulations specifically designed for our chalk streams.
The Government said that our rivers won't be healthy until 2063. Why?
Currently, only 16% of waters in England are in good ecological health and none meet chemical standards. Staggeringly, this means not one of England's chalk streams, rivers, lakes, estuaries or seas are in an overall healthy condition. Even the 16% that are in good ecological health are not in good health overall because of the chemicals they contain.
Previous targets required by the Government to get our rivers in to good overall health by 2015 and 2021 have been missed.
The Government's 'river basin management plans' that launched in 2022 stated that the Government predicts that all of our rivers and streams won't be in good overall health until 2063. That's four decades away!