Plans to create six new ponds to offset drought and climate change at a farm bordering the River Wye have been agreed by Forest of Dean District Council after the proposal was ruled to spell a boost for local climate resilience, says Simon Hacker of the online news resource Punchline.

Farmer Steve Coxbury, of Coxbury Farm, Saint Briavels, asked planners in June for the go-ahead for his scheme, with a bid to improve water resources on his 157-acre business, which rears farm animals.

The request comes as part of a project with the Wye Valley National Landscape, whose Project Programme Officer for the Wye Adapt to Climate Change? scheme, Holly Williams, coordinated this FoDDC bid.

What does the report say?

A report from Matthew Green, FoDDC Case Officer, said that the prior notification application outlined a scheme to excavate a network of watering holes designed to retain water for livestock and buffer the farm against future drought conditions.

The new ponds, which will will be dotted across fields at the farm, will be in a protected zone as part of the Wye Valley National Landscape, he said, and will range from 35sqm up to the largest location, which will be 300sqm, with a maximum depth of one metre.

Planners were told that to minimise the impact on the local environment and rural road network, the project will rely entirely on a sustainable cut-and-fill construction method, ensuring that no excavated material is imported or exported.

Though pre-application advice initially suggested a full planning application might be required for the earthworks, the formal assessment concluded that the combined 700sqm footprint falls within the criteria for permitted development rights.

What the councils say about plans

Both St Briavels and Newland Parish Council raised no objection, but while the scheme received praise from a local ward councillor as an excellent example of tackling climate resilience, Mr Green noted that the proposal did draw scrutiny regarding its proximity to local heritage: concerns were flagged by Natural England over whether the southern cluster of ponds would encroach upon the historic Offa's Dyke Scheduled Monument.

However, he indicated that following a rigorous mapping review, the excavations were deemed to sit entirely outside the monument and its immediate setting, posing no harm to the area's historic assets. Slight repositioning of one pond was also detailed so as to avoid it reaching too close to Ferney Leaze Wood.

The ecological sensitivity of the site was another key factor in the evaluation, given that four of the six proposed ponds are located within or directly adjacent to a designated Local Wildlife Site.

● Farmers were paid to remove ponds in the aftermath of WW2. Under the Agriculture Act 1947, the British government prioritised national food security and self-sufficiency, the then Ministry of Agriculture, Fisheries and Food (MAFF) issuing attractive capital grants that incentivised farmers to maximise on their acreages by removing these historically crucial features