Chalk streams support an extraordinarily diverse eco system, ‘our equivalent to the Great Barrier Reef or the Okovango: A truly special natural heritage and responsibility’, says the CaBA Chalk Stream Restoration Strategy.  It goes on: ‘Chalk streams in their natural condition are home to a profusion of life. Botanically they are the most biodiverse of all English rivers.  For invertebrates, fish, birds and mammals, they offer a vast range of habitat niches’.

The Loddon is one of the five north flowing chalk streams in the world so an extremely rare habitat.  Peat bogs are the UK’s ‘Amazon rainforest’ for carbon storage and the river has environmentally important peat bogs ‘black lands’ dotted along its length.  Pockets of ancient woodland along the valley are remnants of the historic hunting forest and vital habitat.  The Basing Fen SINC is home to the Desmoulin whorl snail and downstream, beyond our Parish, otters and water voles are present which, given the right conditions, could easily migrate upstream.  This extraordinarily diverse ecology and rich mosaic habitat provides opportunities for enhancement that far exceed the sum of the parts.   

Well being

Health and wellbeing – numerous reports show that access to natural green space improves our physical and mental health and saves the NHS millions of pounds each year. It gives us breathing space – literally the lungs of the community, where we enjoy walking/running/cycling and the views by the river and across the valley.

Water Quality and Abstraction
Our water is supplied from the aquifer which is also providing water to the springs at the source of the river. The more water we use the less there is for the river. Almost all of Basingstoke’s treated sewage goes into the River Loddon, impacting water quality.

Landscape character
The landscape character of the Loddon Valley is highly sensitive to further development, according to the Planning Inspector. We must protect it from further development which will bring more pollution of water, air, light, noise; increased water run-off; increased traffic; loss of trees and hedges; and loss of biodiversity owing to the destruction of the natural environment. Our river valley is one of our greatest assets in terms of mitigating climate change, something we all have a responsibility to consider.

Borough Councillor Kate Tuck