We've been with the SPRING scheme through South Staffs Water for a few years now. We all hate form filling, but the application is only seven pages long and will take you no longer than an hour to fill out!
"We found Nina to be very helpful with all aspects of the process in applying for the grant and she's even there to help you fill it out; so much so that we have become an official Trial Farm for South Staffs Water, trialling new ideas and practices in order to protect the local watercourse and maintain and improve water quality by creating a variety of combined pollen and nectar rich mix, game crop mix and grass margins along ditches and the inclusion of, working of our over wintered stubbles, using Ferric Phosphate slug pellets and biobed regeneration.
"South Staffs Water wants to work with the farmers and they’re open to ideas and suggestions."
Rob Atkin of Atkin Farms
Catchment management
Introducing the SPRING 2 Environmental Protection Scheme
SPRING 2 is an Environmental Protection Scheme, set up to support farmers in our high-priority catchment areas willing to explore catchment-friendly land management.
Schemes will be offered up to £15,000 per farm, per year, and this will be for a combination of both field and capital options. For capital-only schemes, the scheme cap will remain at £10,000.
Our Catchment Areas
Click to enlarge:
Qualifying improvements
Examples of improvements, which might qualify for a grant, are shown in the following table:
|
Capital Option |
Cost |
Non-Capital Option |
|
|
Pesticide sprayer washdown / handling area (m2) |
£40.00 |
4 - 6m buffer on cultivated land (ha) |
£452.00 |
|
Lined biobeds (m2) |
£75.00 |
12 - 24m watercourse buffer on cultivated land (ha) |
£613.00 |
|
Pesticide biofilter (m2) |
£980.00 |
Take field corner out of management (ha) |
£400.00 |
|
Roofing for sprayer washdown area (m2) |
£70.00 |
Catch crops/cover crops (over winter) (ha) |
£130.00 |
|
Post & wire (inc. posts) (m) |
£5.50 |
Catch crops/cover crops (over winter) (ha) |
£130.00 |
|
Gate (inc. posts) (m) |
£200.00 |
Livestock and machinery hardcore tracks (m) |
£42.00 |
|
Gateway relocation (per unit) |
£320.00 |
Rainwater goods (m) |
£12.00 |
|
Resurfacing gateways (per unit) |
£130.00 |
Arable reversion into grassland (ha) |
£326.00 |
|
Hard base for livestock drinkers (per unit) |
£200.00 |
Undersown spring cereal |
£300.00 |
|
Livestock troughs (per unit) |
£150.00 |
Maize undersowing (ha) |
£120.00 |
|
Concrete yard renewal (m2) |
£30.00 |
|
"We used the SPRING Grant Scheme to fence our stretch of the River Blithe from our livestock. We also installed two water troughs in a bid to stop river bank erosion, encourage wildlife and flora, improve water quality and to stop the spread of livestock disease.
"The scheme was really straight forward to apply for and Nina from South Staffs Water was very helpful throughout and upon successful application, payment was very swift! Work was completed shortly after and the project a real success."
John Cotton of Brook House Farm, Gratwich
How to get involved
SPRING 2 is open to both arable and livestock farmers. To qualify for a grant, your farm must be situated within the priority catchments.
To register your interest in the scheme, please download and complete the application form below.
Any applications and questions can be sent to Nina or Archie.
SPRING 2 Environmental Protection Scheme Application Form
Download and complete our application form.
Meet the team
Nina Yiannoukos-Benton MSc BSc (Hons) MBPR (Assoc)
Catchment Projects Manager
Email: ninayiannoukos-benton@south-staffs-water.co.uk
Phone: 07341 734293
Nina has been with us since January 2016. She leads on the design and implementation of catchment management.
Nina has a degree in Geography and Environmental Management, a Masters in Environmental Consultancy, and is qualified in BASIS Soil and Water Management and Foundation in Agronomy. Nina previously completed a placement Thames Water's Catchment Team, researching the reduction of agricultural diffused pollution in relation to different agricultural practices.
Archie Humphreys
Catchment Advisor
Email: archiehumphreys@south-staffs-water.co.uk
Phone: 07979 285934
Archie joined us in December 2022. His role involves the design and implementation of catchment management.
Archie studied agriculture with crop management at Harper Adams University, before carrying out a Masters degree in aquatic ecology at Queen Mary University of London. His masters included a dissertation on the study of nutrient limitation in chalk streams and how catchment use impacted this.
Erin Green
Catchment Scientist
Erin joined us in September 2022. Her role is to assess and manage possible risks to water quality across our catchment.
Prior to joining the business, Erin completed an undergraduate degree in physical geography. Her studies saw her regularly use GIS (geographic information system) alongside fieldwork to investigate the physical environment. This included mapping land use to completing risk assessments, including within the field of hydrology.
Allanagh Betts
Catchment Advisor
Allanagh joined us in August 2023. Her role is to work on the implementation of catchment management. Allanagh graduated from the University of Nottingham gaining a BSc(Hons) in Environmental Biology where her dissertation focused on a river catchment dairy farm and its impact on water quality.
Sarah Sanderson
Catchment Projects Officer
Sarah is our Catchment Projects Officer, leading biodiversity enhancing projects such as the PEBBLE scheme and our commitment to chalk stream restoration. Sarah has a BSc in Zoology with Conservation from Bangor University and an MSc in Conservation Science and Policy from the University of Exeter. She is passionate about landscape restoration and recovery, but in a way that works with people holistically to allow both humans and nature to flourish.