£3m project could '˜redefine' River Rye

A £3m project that could revive rare and threatened wildlife, restore ancient woodland and redefine a river that was once a lifeblood for communities in the North York Moors National Park is gaining pace.
Jim Gurling of Ryedale Anglers Club fishing the Harome stretch of the River Rye.

Picture by Gerard Binks.Jim Gurling of Ryedale Anglers Club fishing the Harome stretch of the River Rye.

Picture by Gerard Binks.
Jim Gurling of Ryedale Anglers Club fishing the Harome stretch of the River Rye. Picture by Gerard Binks.

The River Rye’s lush valleys and clear waters have been prized for millennia, attracting monks to Rievaulx and described by Turner as a “picturesque”.

Now the National Park Authority is spearheading a £2.8m ‘Ryevitalise’ Landscape Partnership to develop a four-year-project to enhance and protect the area’s natural and cultural heritage, with the aim of creating a more natural, better functioning and better understood landscape.

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Next month the Authority will submit the second stage of a £1.84m funding bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund (HLF), which agreed to fund development work on the project last year. Since then, a project team has been set up, working on detailed plans for the scheme, consulting landowners and farmers working in the region.

A report that went before members of the North York Moors National Park Authority on Monday said: “The Ryevitalise Landscape Partnership provides a unique and exciting opportunity to develop a broad framework in which to revive species abundance and diversity only known to the older generation, redefining the area as an exemplar landscape recognised nationally.

“This ambitious scheme will provide a step change in land management practices on a landscape scale, which on completion of the four year delivery phase will leave the long term legacy required to sustain and build on positive changes.”

The scheme incorporates the main upper Rye catchment, made up of the upper valleys of the river and including the River Seph and River Riccal. It includes part of the Howardian Hills Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

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In total, there will be 27 projects based around three themes of water environment and water quality, water level management and reconnecting people.

These include identifying priority high-value habitats for restoration and expansion, combating invasive species and creating habitat corridors that allow wildlife to roam without obstacle; developing a deeper understanding of rare and important species, such as the Alcathoe bat and the white-clawed crayfish; restoring the Rye’s ancient woodland; improving water quality and reducing pollution; and a range of community and education initiatives such as young angler projects.

Further consultation events are planned for Chop Gate, Helmsley and Nunnington in November.

Programme manager Anne-Louise Orange said: “The project will focus on making existing habitats larger and more connected through creating habitat corridors which will enable wildlife to move freely through the landscape.

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“The scheme will explore the remaining evidence of human relationship with the rivers over the centuries including recording and interpreting the early settlements and the move to industrial practices including mills.”

Alongside the Heritage Lottery Funding, the Park Authority has committed to provide funding of £170,000 towards the scheme and up to £238,000 for salaries, while additional funding has been given from the Environment Agency, local landowners, and other sources.

The HLF is expected to take a number of months to assess the final bid, the report said, with the project team planning to start the scheme in April 2019 should it get final approval.