PROPOSALS to flood meadows below Cotehele to create an area of salt marsh are causing concern to parish councils bordering the River Tamar.

The National Trust wants to return a 35-acre parcel of land a mile downstream of Calstock to its former wetland status.

The trust says the land, known as Hayemarsh, was reclaimed from the Tamar more than 150 years ago.

Gradual colonisation by the common reed — creating reed-beds which act as a natural filter for water — would lead to an increase in wildlife.

The site, currently used for grazing, is protected by the Environment Agency as part of flood defences.

It is planned to remove sections of the flood defence banks and create new banks to prevent flooding of adjacent horticultural land.

The trust held open days giving details of the scheme and has told St Dominic Parish Council of the project.

But council clerk Lynda Small said some parishioners were still very concerned about the proposals.

They were not keen on looking out for at least ten years on mud-covered meadows while reed-beds developed.

And, although a report had been carried out by experts, there was still concern on possible effects on the navigational channel.

Calstock Parish Council chairman Ian Kirk at the council's meeting last week said the condition of the river was bad enough as it was.

'We don't want anything that could affect the navigability further,' he said.

Those on the Bere Ferrers side of the river would also be affected.

The National Trust said the major project, which involved the co-operation of many groups, would create one of only a few wetland habitats for wildlife in this country and they would be working within a time-frame of 15 to 20 years.

Necessary grants and permissions were needed before it could move forward and they had welcomed comments and enquiries since the project was first proposed.

A trust spokesman said: 'At a very early stage, one of the trust's major concerns was the possible effect of the scheme on river-flow.

'This led to the commissioning of a report from Newcastle University which concluded that there would be no significant change to tidal flow, thus allowing river traffic to continue as normal.'

An Environment Agency spokesman confirmed they supported the scheme and worked with the trust on a similar one at Saltram. DEFRA was also involved in preparing a management plan for the land.

The Queen's Harbourmaster, Commander Shaun Turner, said the matter was due to be discussed at the next meeting of the Tamar Estuary Consultative Forum.

'We are very aware that we need to monitor this very carefully to ensure it doesn't have adverse effects. Anything we do in a hurry could have a long-term effect — we need to keep things in balance,' he said.

'This kind of thing is done on the east coast, but we need to make sure it is right for here,' he stressed.