The three sides to our ditches

One of our recently joined members approached me a couple of weeks ago to ask about the maintenance of our ditches. Not wishing to fob him off, I explained the situation to him but perhaps not in great detail, given he was golfing and probably wanted to get on with his round.

Essentially, we as a golf club are a 'riparian' landowner of the ditches. They are sited on our land and as such we are responsible for their maintenance and to ensure they are maintained correctly. However, we do not assume total control for them.

Our legal rights are enshrined in common law but we must acquire permission from a third party risk management authority (e.g. Environment Agency) for certain works to them. To explain this better, I have included a link document below which explains the rights and responsibilities of 'riparian' land ownership.

https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/454562/LIT_7114.pdf

From reading the document, page 8 states our responsibilities (the golf club in its capacity as a landowner) for their upkeep. Clearly, you can see that we must maintain the banks, bed and ensure the water can flow through them properly but not to the extent that they cause a flood risk. Further rights and responsibilities are explained from pages 9 onwards.

The issue we have (as greenkeepers) in terms of maintenance are explained below:

• We can stream them but in doing so face a health & safety risk by standing on the banks of the ditch with a strimmer
• Any grass/weed clippings that fall into the ditch will essentially sit there and act as a nutrient for aquatic plants such as reeds and bullrushes
• Consequently, the aquatic plants will proliferate and cause any flow of water to slow down (as is evident in the photo above at Hole 5/14

If we as a golf club wish to improve the ditches, we must apply to the local risk management authority for consent to do so.

My personal view is that the ditches on golf club land are unsightly. They are not a feature of the golf course. They do not support any real wildlife diversity.  Strimming them only serves to cause them to deteriorate since the resulting clippings will clog up the bed of the ditch and feed the aquatic plants leading to a snowball situation; strim > clippings > nutrient > increase growth > more strimming > more clippings > more nutrient.

So in summary, yes we will maintain them but this leads to their detriment. Only a more considered long term plan can improve them.