Is this the end for the traditional British watermill?
New hydropower schemes to help transform and preserve some of the country’s historic watermills face being wrecked by a huge increase in application fees, energy campaigners warn.
Some watermills have already had turbines installed to generate clean electricity, but campaigners say there are hundreds more across Britain which could be converted to hydropower to help conserve the sites and power the nation.
The Environment Agency now faces criticism for discouraging small-scale hydropower schemes which can be installed in watermills after increasing application costs on 1 April in England from £1,500 to fees ranging from £6,110 to £13,392 – in some cases, a 790% increase. A decade ago, the application fee for a hydropower scheme was just £135.
The money is not returned for an unsuccessful application, meaning many potential schemes are likely to be unaffordable.
Sir Jonathon Porritt, the environmental campaigner and former director of Friends of the Earth, said: “At a time when we should all be doing everything we can to promote sustainable renewable electricity, the fact that the Environment Agency has become the biggest threat to maintaining and restoring traditional watermills is truly shocking.
“There has to be a change of heart before this reckless vandalism causes further damage.”
Watermills were built in Britain in Roman times, and by the 11th century there were more than 6,000 across the country. Most mills were used to grind corn, and in the second half of the 18th century many were built to power the mechanised cotton industry.
There were more than 20,000 watermills in Britain by the 19th century, adapted for a range of uses from powering forge hammers to paper manufacture and grinding bones for fertiliser. Many were
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