Arden Lakes Ingon Lane Snitterfield Stratford-upon-Avon CV37 0QF

Proposal

The work will provide access to an existing permitted agricultural irrigation lagoon that is leaking. The leak can only be fixed by increasing the thickness of the pond lining with clay. However, vehicle access to the pond is not possible due to the gradient left when the pond was constructed. The current gradients are too steep to deliver and place machinery and materials around the pond without first creating a safe access down to it. The proposed track requires regrading the existing 1 in 2 bank to a gradient of 1 in 10 (or better) - a safe trackway can then be built to enable access to the pond to enable clay to be pushed down to seal the leaking bank. The access will then be retained to provide longer-term, vehicular access for future maintenance and agricultural use. The irrigation ponds were installed to support the orchard and farm activities in dry weather. The original farm fell into disrepair for many years, and the current owner is reinvigorating the orchards and productive land but needs a reliable source of irrigation water. The current irrigation lagoon is leaking and so is too low to use in the dry summer months, when the farming operation needs the extra water.