I NOTICE once again what has sadly become an annual occurrence, the drying up of the old Gumstool Brook in Cirencester.

What used to be an exceptional event has become a regular one as the Gloucester Street sluice gates have been closed to protect the flow of the main river. This has cut off the water supply to what used to be a beautiful aquatic environment teeming with fish and wildlife and created in its place a dry ditch.

The root of this environmental disaster is of course a dwindling supply of water from the river Churn. This isn’t in this case a climatic problem as we have just had an exceptionally wet winter and the summer so far, although hot, hasn’t experienced drought.

The finger of suspicion points at the excessive draining of the upstream Baunton aquifers as Thames Water extracts more and more water to meet the needs of an ever-expanding Cirencester. Two large new housing developments are now taking their toll and with the forthcoming 2500 home planned development at Chesterton Farm even more water will be required.

I am afraid that we will have to get used to the Gumstool Brook being permanently dry in the summer in the future and the main river, despite periodic winter floods, will overall also have a considerably reduced flow.

New housing and modern living come at a high price.

REV DR NICHOLAS HENDERSON

Chester Street

Cirencester