OCEANWP THEME BY NICK

Traditional watermills are being stopped from generating ‘green electricity' by a 46-fold increase in Environment Agency fees... The latest 4.6-fold increase introduced on the 1st April 2022 comes on top of an earlier 10-fold increase that will inevitably consign working watermills to history as there is no way that mill owners can meet the cost or negotiate the bureaucracy involved. The new policy will damage fishing by destroying the habitat for young fish and the endangered European eel, so may not even be legal. The Environment Agency claim the typical licence application fee of £7000 is necessary to pay their £100+/hour costs. It is argued by mill owners that watermills, most of which have been in place for hundreds of years are an environmentally benign technology that should be exempt from charges to encourage their restoration... Millstreams also provide habitat for otters and beavers so the Environment Agency policy of demolishing mill weirs, is both expensive for the..

Primary location: United Kingdom