Popular river left to become town eyesore

A FROME resident has expressed concern at the current state of the River Feltham that is blocked with fallen trees and rubbish.

Kevin Pleasants, who has lived in Frome all his life, spent the majority of his childhood with his friends fishing in the Feltham river.

Now, he likes walking along the river to reminisce but is disgusted at the state it is in, with fallen trees blocking the flow of the river and problems with litter.

Kevin told Frome Times, “Nobody seems to be doing anything about it, it’s disgusting. Surely the river authorities are interested in keeping them up to standard.

“The angling club used to keep really good care of the area, for their own benefit, but it was nice and clean. Now it has sadly been left to its own devices and it looks horrible. What once was happy memories for me, now fills me with sadness. 

“The new houses by Asda are getting closer and closer to the area, surely they don’t want the eyesore at the bottom of their gardens? It really surprises me that they are allowing it. 

“Half of the water is gone due to the blockages, it’s not free flowing anymore.

“It’s part of the town’s heritage as it runs into the River Frome. The younger generations will not be able to enjoy it as we all once did as children.

“It is such a shame that it has been left to become overgrown. It would be good to see it back to how I remember it.”

Mike Bull, chair of Friends of River Frome said, “There is generally a responsibility on the land owner (riparian owner) to look after and maintain it.

“We are currently preparing a guidance document regarding fallen trees, as not all are in fact an issue and are valuable in providing a natural flood alleviation. If it needs some attention, then we can either contact the land owner or arrange to carry out the works ourselves.

“We’ll get someone to take a look and assess, we can then identify the owner and make contact if required.”