What the future holds for water
Landowners, farmers and developers all have a part to play.
ANY PROPERTY with water, be it a chalkstream to fish in or a riverbank to walk along, commands a premium, both commercial and emotional. Young Harry Britton, aged five, might not measure the water in monetary terms yet but he has already caught a bag of life skills. His father Simon Britton is a partner in rural agricultural consultancy at Knight Frank and, like his own father, a passionate fisherman – three generations of anglers. Britton’s love of the sport and its rivers informs him in his working life, caring deeply about what the future holds for water in all its functions across fishing, farming and the environment, both built and natural. Water also happens to be a necessity of life, on land and sea.
Rural agents are invariably going to have a recreational interest in country pursuits, regardless of how it drives their business, but to listen to Britton and Jamie Evans-freke, a partner in rural asset management at Knight Frank, is to find two property professionals utterly focused on finding the solutions to heavyweight problems such as pollution, agriculture and housebuilding; life balanced by the lure of their local rivers or indeed the wider oceans beyond. There’s a time to commercialise and a time to contemplate.
Both want to foster greater participation in fishing, especially from younger people, ‘selling’ the sport to those who haven’t had it passed down the generations. “Harry has been fishing since the age of three. It is about appreciating the environment you stand in as well as respecting your quarry,” says Britton. Evans-freke is very much in the hunt-gather-cook school of fishing. As well as salmon and trout on the fly, he loves sea-fishing on the south coast near his Sussex home before throwing mackerel on the beach barbecue. “Or buying fish and chips if we don’t catch anything.”
It is time to confront the elephants in the room. Rivers are often overheated and polluted, not to mention flooding: climate change meets corporate greed. Meanwhile, nutrient neutrality finds farmer and property developer in conflict, with Natural England a capricious referee. Backed by various incentive schemes, landowners can play “a significant part in regenerating the ecosystems in our rivers and habitats”, says Britton, who is based in North Yorkshire.
Housebuilders have been paralysed in some water catchment areas by nutrientneutrality rules and the need to offset sewage discharge from new homes, adding significantly to build costs. Phosphate and nitrate trading is big business. “We need a more collaborative approach and a biodiversity action plan. We all want more fish numbers and greater water quality,” says Evans-freke.
The farmer is confused (feeder, manager, rewilder or all three?) with the political landscape, let alone the natural one. Agents are now operating on a field-by-field basis to find best use of the land. Improving the rivers, managing the environment, feeding the population, housing the nation – all in the same rudderless boat.
Meanwhile, if you own a house with a river running through it, you are fortunate in both bank and soul, with a natural health service at the bottom of the garden. Time to catch the problems and release the solutions, be they human- or nature-based.