AN INCENTIVE scheme designed to encourage farmers to help slow the flow of water into the river system has been extended to the South Tyne catchment.

Tyne Rivers Trust has successfully applied for a second pot of cash from the national Farming Facilitation Fund and will now channel it into the area covering Lambley through to Alston and Garrigill.

This follows on from the environmental trust’s first foray into the fund last year, when it focused on the Ouseburn catchment, stretching from the urban fringe of North Tyneside to Hexham. That particular project now has 50 members.

The money comes from Natural England and its Countryside Stewardship Fund to support farmers in improving land management techniques and biodiversity.

The ultimate aim is to reduce downstream flood risk and soil loss into rivers, so improving water quality.

Chris McDonald, whose Baysleap farm at Heddon-on-the-Wall has been part of the Ouseburn project, said: “It’s important that as farmers in the catchment, we all work together to make a difference.

“None of us want to see pollution going into the river and if we just make a few changes it can make a huge difference to the environment.”

It had been a very positive experience for him, he said. “I’m currently in the process of converting to organic and I’ve found the workshops on soil management particularly useful – I’d definitely recommend the scheme to farmers in the South Tyne.”

Hugo Remnant, chairman of the Tyne Rivers Trust, said: “Our Ouseburn fund has been such a success that we are already seeing the benefits, with farmers looking to install more environmentally friendly ways to deal with surface water, from clean and dirty water separation tanks to rainwater harvesting and buffer strips preventing fertilizer getting into rivers.”

There is an additional benefit, too, in that farmers signing up to the facilitation fund are eligible for extra points when applying for Countryside Stewardship funding to improve wildlife and habitat on their land.