Last updated at 09:03, Friday, 29 January 2010

A PAPCASTLE farmer whose farmland was devastated by the floods was visited by shadow Defra minister John Taylor on Friday.

Papcastle farmer Robert Jackson surveys the flood damage to his land.

Robert Jackson, 65, of Croft House, owns four fields between Papcastle and Great Broughton which had thousands of tons of debris and gravel deposited on them by the floods.

It means that he cannot graze livestock or grow barley.

Mr Jackson, who has lived on the farm all his life, faces months of misery as he tries to return to normal.

He said: “I have just about everything in my fields including fridges, trees, caravans, wheelie bins, stock from shops and benches from the Memorial Gardens in Cockermouth.

“Due to the amount of gravel no contractor is willing to remove it. It will be a huge engineering job but I cannot say how long it will take.

“The barley field has been covered in gravel so there is absolutely no chance we can farm on it this year and there will be implications due to that.”

Mr Jackson has been told that it would cost £7,500 to remove the debris but it would be a lot more to remove all the gravel.

However, he must wait until Cumbria Rural Enterprise Agency inspectors have seen the devastation, but this has been held up due to bad weather. A Government grant of £6,800 is available to clear land but he must wait for approval so it could be spring before work can begin.

Mr Jackson wants to repair the fences that were flattened by the floods and hopes to get his 30 lambs grazing by March.

He added: “If the rivers had been dredged maybe this would not have been as severe, and I would like to see better management of the rivers in future. These fields need to be preserved so we need to look at long term solutions.”

Mr Taylor visited the area to survey the damage been caused to uo to four acres that Mr Jackson owns. He was with representatives from the NFU, Environment Agency and Natural England.

Mr Taylor said: “I felt I had to see and understand the devastation the farmers in the area have suffered.

“Now I am in a better position to talk about what has happened.

“Without the visit I doubt I could have talked about what needs to be done here in terms of flood management.

“The fact that other agencies have been here has helped and I can now suggest what plans can be put in to prevent the devastation happening again.

“I will be challenging the Government to make sure that care is given to the farming community in the area because we now need an immediate response to what has gone on.”

John Collins, Lancashire and Cumbria area manager for the Environment Agency, said 147 farms in the area had been affected by the floods, 20 of them severely, and the problems would take time to resolve.

First published at 19:26, Thursday, 28 January 2010
Published by http://www.timesandstar.co.uk