This Autumn's clearance effort on the Stamford Mill Stream took place on Monday October 8th and saw a record number of volunteers take part in a huge clean-up of the stream and path. Over two hundred people spent the day working to remove weed growth and fallen trees from in and around the Mill Stream. The majority of those involved came from Cummins Generator Technologies, who also supplied food, drink, medical facilities, Portaloos and equipment for the day. Other teams were a student group from New College Stamford and members of staff from Royal Haskoning DHV, one of Europe's leading project management, engineering and consultancy service providers.
 

The remarkable growth of plants and weeds, which was prompted by a very wet summer, meant that areas cleared last year had to be revisited. As a result, teams were working from Tinwell Weir all the way down to Melancholy Walk. Other groups of volunteers spent the day removing and shredding large amounts of tree debris left over from previous clearance efforts. The output from this was around ten tonnes of wood chippings. Two tonnes of this were delivered to the Wharf Road green area, which is currently being restored by the Civic Society Urban Group, the rest was used to surface the Mill Stream path between Tinwell Weir and Broadeng Bridge. This has created a much improved walking surface and will also help to inhibit further weed growth in the Spring.

With much of the stream now cleared, the Welland Rivers Trust project team is now turning it's attentions to improving the water supply. Currently, this is very poor and depends upon a pump which runs only intermittently. Plans are currently being discussed to install a turbine electricity generator at the foot of the weir, which could provide power for a larger submersible pump located in the River Welland adjacent to the head of the Mill Stream. This success of this idea is dependent upon the Trust gaining permission from the Environment Agency to extract more water from the main river than is currently allowed. Discussions with the EA are taking place currently and a formal submission will be made shortly.

A further clearance day is being planned for January 2013, when remaining areas of the stream and path will be cleared, along with the removal of any tree debris left over from this year's effort. Volunteers for this event will be most welcome. A volunteering form is available on the Trust's web site here.