The Essex and Suffolk Rivers Trust has had a busy start to 2025, strengthening partnerships and expanding the reach of our Essex RiverWatch campaign. We've recently welcomed new board members and are currently looking to recruit two additional staff members to our team. Find out more about our recent work in this winter news update.
Updates from the Board of Trustees
After many years of dedicated service, Archie Ruggles-Brise is stepping down as a Trustee and Chairman of the Essex and Suffolk Rivers Trust. His leadership and passion for river conservation have been instrumental in shaping the Trust’s work, driving key projects and partnerships to protect and restore local waterways. The Trust thanks Archie for his invaluable contributions and commitment, which have left a lasting impact on the region’s rivers.
The board is pleased to announce that current Vice Chairman Jane Burch has been appointed as the new Chairman, bringing a wealth of experience in water management and environmental policy. With a strong background in flood and coastal risk management, as well as catchment-based approaches to river restoration, Jane has been a key advocate for sustainable water management.
"I am delighted to take on the Chairmanship and continue the fantastic work done by Archie Ruggles Brice in supporting the staff and other Trustees, delivering real improvements to our rivers." - Jane Burch, ESRT Chairman
From left to right: New Chairman Jane Burch and Trustees Chris Whitehouse, Tom Palmer, and Simon Tiller
The board also appointed three new trustees:
Simon Tiller has 15 years’ experience in charity policy campaigning, currently leading national policy campaigns.
Chris Whitehouse, a Cambridge Geography graduate, has advised government bodies on infrastructure, sustainability, and environmental issues for 25 years.
Tom Palmer, with a background in river and coastal engineering, has 16 years’ experience in local authorities, enhancing flood resilience, reducing coastal erosion, and improving drought tolerance.
Their combined expertise will strengthen the Trust’s mission to protect and enhance Essex and Suffolk’s rivers and estuaries. Click here to find out more about our board members.
Project Updates
ESRT continue to support the installation of two further Natural Flood Management flood attenuation ponds on the minor watercourses above Debenham, as part of the Recovering the Deben from Source to Sea programme of works. The sites include ponds on the Derry Brook and Cherry Brook. We are aiming for the delivery of the initial pond potentially this financial year, with the second pond next year.
Last year the ESRT led a partnership application for a Water Restoration Fund Bid for the River Deben but unfortunately we have still not had any further updates on award decisions. The application is for the development of three feasibilities covering fish migration on the Deben; the promotion of super buffer strips along the banks of the Deben; and a pilot wetland attenuation pond to reduce nutrient inputs from the crag streams.
Recovering the Deben has recently held two successful monitoring sub-group meetings to discuss current monitoring in the Deben and how to collect all this data together to form a single point of reference and baseline for the Deben. The report will be called the ‘State of the Deben Report’ and will be developed in partnership with ESCP members and the Recovering the Deben working party.
Recruitment of volunteers continues for the Essex RiverWatch and the project is getting great feedback from our funders and stakeholders. Thanks to a donation of £500 equipment, from the Catchment Sensitive Farming team at Natural England we now have more water quality testing kits ready for use!
In early November, a second stakeholder workshop for the Blackwater and Pant Restoration Plan was held to communicate findings and potential actions of the fluvial audit results to stakeholders. The results of the workshop helped steer the opportunities within the final report, which was completed by JBA Consulting in December. The restoration plan is currently being written and will use this audit as a core source of information.
Partnership Updates
Essex Rivers Hub:
The ERH Catchment Plan is now complete and available to view online: Our Plan - Essex Rivers Hub. This is a significant step forward for the partnership, and we appreciate the input from all involved.
The Equity, diversity and inclusion (EDI) & Engagement subgroup met to discuss plans for an annual forum, addressing knowledge gaps, and embedding EDI principles. The group has proposed three subgroups to support ERH’s key aims, with the first meetings planned before the next in-person ERH gathering in late January.
East Suffolk Catchment Partnership:
The ESCP autumn meeting was successful, with presentations provided by both Suffolk County Council and the Environment Agency on flood risk management, Section 19 reporting and actions since Storm Babet.
The next ESCP meeting took place on Wednesday, 8th January and featured a talk by the Local Nature Recovery Strategy team from Suffolk County Council. The ESRT have also sent out a self-assessment questionnaire to all member of the catchment partnership to enable the partnership to remain relevant and dynamic.
Get Involved
We're currently looking for a Bluespaces Officer and a Volunteer and Community Involvement Officer to join our team.
These roles are a great opportunity to make a real difference in protecting and enhancing our local rivers and waterways. If you're passionate about conservation, community engagement, and improving blue spaces, we’d love to hear from you. Visit our recruitment page for more information.
Closing Date: Midnight Sunday 9th March 2025.
Coming Soon
We're excited to announce that we will soon have a brand new ESRT newsletter! This quarterly publication will bring you the latest news from the Trust, with updates on our projects, partnership working, and ways you can get involved! We also hope to bring you a behind the scenes look at the work that we do and introduce you to the staff and trustees that make our work possible. Look out for the first edition in the next few months!
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