A NATIONAL Trust plan to breach a Victorian dyke on the banks of the River Tamar and flood 37 acres of farmland to restore a reed bed at Cotehele has been rejected by councillors.

The Trust?s proposed conservation initiative was unanimously turned down last week by Caradon District Council?s planning committee.

Although the scheme had been recommended for approval, councillors rejected it because they feared the river could cease to be navigable for boats going up to Calstock.

They were also concerned about the short-term visual impact of a mudflat being established in a designated Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty.

Shaun Turner, the Queen?s Harbour Master at Plymouth, had expressed his concern that the proposal was ?potentially detrimental to navigation and to port operations?.

St Dominick Parish Council were also opposed to the scheme, citing the grounds of loss of visual amenity, unacceptable risks and the inability to reverse the process.

Debbie Peers, communication officer for the National Trust, said the Trust were disappointed at the decision made by Caradon District Council.

?The Trust respects the council?s decision, but would like to make clear that the opportunity to re-establish a managed reed bed habitat is extremely rare.

?The scheme would have had considerable benefits in terms of wildlife colonisation and bio-diversity activity resulting from the creation of such a habitat,? said Mrs Peers.

She said the possibility to appeal against the decision was open to the Trust but a meeting would have to be held before the next step could be decided upon. ?We have got to look at where we go from here.

?We need to look very carefully at what the council said and make sure we address those points. It is a very sensitive issue,? she said.

She said while the Trust acknowledged there had been some local opposition to the wetland scheme, it wanted to thank those who had supported and assisted with the proposal.

The Wetland Conservation Scheme had the support of the Environment Agency, English Nature and DEFRA. A Newcastle University study commissioned by the Environment Agency found the change to the tidal flow on the Tamar was likely to be minimal and there would therefore be no significant effect on river navigability.

The National Trust was proposing to carry out engineering works to enable the flooding of land at Haymarsh, Hay Farm on the banks of the Tamar, currently used for grazing, to return it to its former condition as an intertidal reed bed.

The officers? report presented to councillors concluded: ?This application is a finely balanced case, however, it is considered that the benefits of the scheme in terms of increase in inter-tidal habitat creation and bio-diversity outweigh the perceived disbenefits of the scheme.?

The application had been recommended for approval, subject to appropriate conditions, to ensure pollution of the water was prevented and flooding only occurred within the area defined as such in the approved plans.

Forty per cent of Britain?s reed beds have been lost since 1945.