Carp die after Brighton and Hove City Council fails to refresh water

3:50pm Monday 11th February 2013 in News Exclusive By Anna Roberts, Crime reporter

Workers at the rockery pond which was drained for repairs Workers at the rockery pond which was drained for repairs

Forty fish perished after a council failed to care for them properly during repair work to their pond.

The carp, which lived in the rockery pond in a public garden in Brighton and Hove, died last month after water in their temporary home was not kept fresh.

Brighton and Hove City Council is now liaising with the RSPCA to make sure it does not happen again and learn “valuable lessons for the future”.

The fish were among about 1,000 which lived in Brighton’s Preston Park Pond.

At the beginning of January, The Argus reported the pond was undergoing repairs for the first time in two decades.

It was being drained after springing a leak. The council promised it would “carefully” scoop the fish out.

But tragically, 40 fish died in the course of the works.

'Regrettable situation'

Geoff Raw, strategic director for Brighton and Hove City Council, admitted: “This is a very regrettable situation. Unfortunately we have lost some fish in the course of the urgent repair works to the park and pond.

“We thought we had made good plans and preparations for temporarily storing the fish on-site in specially-insulated skips which were specifically chosen as they are hard to vandalise.

Related links

“However, freezing weather meant we couldn't refresh the water regularly without causing an ice hazard on the path and cycle track nearby.

“We have been in contact with the RSPCA to review what happened and have learnt some valuable lessons for the future."

RSPCA concern

“Staff are very upset as they are keen conservationists and would never have wanted this.”

A member of the public, who asked not to be named, said he was very upset. He said: “I am appalled that no one seems to care or be interested in this problem.”

He added he saw RSPCA staff in a “heated discussion” with council workers near where the fish were stored.

Simon Reed, of Edburton Contractors, speaking in early January at the start of the works, said: “We can’t be certain how many fish are in there but we know there are carp, perch, koi carp and even goldfish.

“I think people must throw their fish in there when they get too big for their tanks at home.”

See the latest news headlines from The Argus:

More news from The Argus

Follow @brightonargus

Daily Echo on Facebook - facebook.com/southerndailyecho Like us on Facebook

Google+ Add us to your circles on Google+

Comments(31)

NickBrt says...
12:32pm Mon 11 Feb 13

Jason Kitekat shoudl resign immediately. If we treated protesters, druggies or travellers like that he'd be up in arms.

Report this post »

toldsloth says...
12:55pm Mon 11 Feb 13

This has been a fiasco from the start and council staff and their contractors should be held accountable. This was >completely< avoidable and simply shouldn't have happened. The truth of the matter is that it simply wasn't planned or executed correctly and is typical of the slap-dash attitude of the COuncil and Edburton. You call in a specialist to advise and to deal with the fish as required. You do not leave it to the care of a bunch of groundworkers. As for "specially-insulated skips"; these were standard skips with a couple of inches of Celotex or similar with a plastic liner. In short wholly inadequate precations for storing live stock. Absolutely disgusting behaviour and I impore the RSPCA to bring a prosecution.

Report this post »

RottingdeanRant says...
3:55pm Mon 11 Feb 13

Is a ‘coy’ carp just a shy fish or was it supposed to be koi?

Report this post »

8273661 says...
3:55pm Mon 11 Feb 13

“However, freezing weather meant we couldn't refresh the water regularly without causing an ice hazard on the path and cycle track nearby."

Says it all really...

Report this post »

mimseycal says...
3:57pm Mon 11 Feb 13

So ... are the RSPCA going to serve a cruelty notice on them? Doubt it ... lessons are learnt and a council is safe from a persecution a private individual would not be.

Oops did I say persecution ... prosecution I meant of course. Must have been a Freudian slip of the tongue ...

Report this post »

NickBtn says...
4:17pm Mon 11 Feb 13

I'm not sure that "lessons for the future" are very useful. This hasn't been done for 20 years and likely to not need to be done again for another 20. People will have moved on by then

Surely it's a matter of getting advice and information beforehand. There are many other councils who must have done similar work - why not call a colleague for advice as this is not run of the mill?

Report this post »

mimseycal says...
4:36pm Mon 11 Feb 13

RottingdeanRant wrote:
Is a ‘coy’ carp just a shy fish or was it supposed to be koi?
Interesting enough Fish, possessing a backbone, are covered by the same legislation the RSPCA relies on for prosecutions of cruelty.

Look up Louis Cole, the man who eats strange things and the RSPCA on Google if you want an idea of how selective the RSPCA can be when it comes to selecting their targets.

Both organisations, the Council who allowed this to happen and the RSPCA who appear to be turning a blind eye to it, should be ashamed of themselves.

Report this post »

fredflintstone1 says...
4:41pm Mon 11 Feb 13

Why does the Council actually have an Animal Welfare team if they can't manage something like this?

Geoff Raw's excuse that the Council couldn't refresh the water without the risk of causing ice on a path and a cycle track beggars belief. By implication, the fish were clearly left to die instead.

There is absolutely no excuse whatsoever for this deliberate neglect, and those involved should be prosecuted and sacked.

Report this post »

gforce1969 says...
4:53pm Mon 11 Feb 13

Being a fish enthusiast, the should Never of happened. For one it was the wrong time of the year to be moving fish because of the cold weather, which would of stressed the fish. I can almost guarantee that more fish have been list than published. Also the słupa should of had water circulation pumps in whichi beleive there were not. Alot of money lost if you were buying these fish. Especially if the Koi Carp were list. The RSPCA should act on this cruelty. If it was Joe Bloggs they would come down on us!!!

Report this post »

george smith says...
4:59pm Mon 11 Feb 13

s this the same department that chopped down nearly two hundred oaks in wildpark, and numerous others, didn't keep a record, then filled the void they created with sheep at great expense.

As the greens wanted the developer who chopped the trees down at Anston House along the road from the poor fish prosecuted, I hope they are going to want the contractors who cruelly neglected the fish prosecuted as well.

Report this post »

In the sticks says...
5:36pm Mon 11 Feb 13

Brighton & Hove City Council:

Carp 'ey Die'm

Report this post »

Dealing with idiots says...
6:09pm Mon 11 Feb 13

Oh don't carp on.

Report this post »

ShorehamBeachcomber says...
6:22pm Mon 11 Feb 13

£1,000 fine per fish divided by all those involved rather than the 'lessons learnt for the future' that all incompetents trot out as if that makes It all right to make massive errors first time around

Report this post »

nosolution says...
6:40pm Mon 11 Feb 13

It's the same council dept. that is fencing off the small ,maybe 10acres,of rough grassland at Tenantry down to put sheep on it to create a short turf.This will however ruin the habitat for the rare Great green bush crickets that liven the summer evenings with their trilling and the kestrels will have to go somewhere else for their mice....

Report this post »

Maxwell's Ghost says...
7:23pm Mon 11 Feb 13

Astonishing incompetence and hopefully a prosecution will follow with individuals held accountable.

Report this post »

mimseycal says...
7:44pm Mon 11 Feb 13

nosolution wrote:
It's the same council dept. that is fencing off the small ,maybe 10acres,of rough grassland at Tenantry down to put sheep on it to create a short turf.This will however ruin the habitat for the rare Great green bush crickets that liven the summer evenings with their trilling and the kestrels will have to go somewhere else for their mice....
You mean those sheep that are costing us £140,000?

Report this post »

george smith says...
7:46pm Mon 11 Feb 13

nosolution wrote:
It's the same council dept. that is fencing off the small ,maybe 10acres,of rough grassland at Tenantry down to put sheep on it to create a short turf.This will however ruin the habitat for the rare Great green bush crickets that liven the summer evenings with their trilling and the kestrels will have to go somewhere else for their mice....
Whatever happened to opening up access, this fencing of land is like the sixteenth century tudor enclosures. Are the sheep coming from the same shepherd, will he be made a Baron?

Report this post »

bogs says...
9:30pm Mon 11 Feb 13

At least he had his HI-Viz on as he watched them die!

Report this post »

Dave At Home says...
10:09pm Mon 11 Feb 13

I really do hope the RSPCA bring charges against the Council and the contractors and maybe I will ring them up to make sure it is done, anyone else doing this would have had a notice served on them by now..... get on with it RSPCA and a follow up story from the Argus team as well please.

Report this post »

mimseycal says...
10:45pm Mon 11 Feb 13

8273661 wrote:
“However, freezing weather meant we couldn't refresh the water regularly without causing an ice hazard on the path and cycle track nearby.&quot;

Says it all really...
That could have been addressed by gritting the path or is that expecting some common sense in problem solving?

Report this post »

ARealBessie says...
11:02pm Mon 11 Feb 13

nosolution wrote:
It's the same council dept. that is fencing off the small ,maybe 10acres,of rough grassland at Tenantry down to put sheep on it to create a short turf.This will however ruin the habitat for the rare Great green bush crickets that liven the summer evenings with their trilling and the kestrels will have to go somewhere else for their mice....
Yep. It's also the same dept. responsible for the disgusting bomb site that is now The Level. City Parks (the dept. in question) gave the OK for contractors to: poison the grass before ripping it all up; cut down all the hedging in one fell swoop (shame about the birds, mice, foxes etc that were once the inhabitants); chop down all the healthy birch trees and rose bushes lining the Rosewalk; stuff up the drainage on both the field and outer perimeter...

What I want to know is why the likes of Gillian Marsden (the blond midget in charge of the dept.) and the chinless Jan Jonkers aren't being held to account for this sort of mindlessness and mismanagement?

Report this post »

Maxwell's Ghost says...
7:49am Tue 12 Feb 13

The contractors on the Level who have failed to keep the pedestrian walkway free of floodwater so people now have to walk in the road.
I was disgusted by this lazy construction site. it's almost as bad as te stretch if bus lane which has appeared on the Lewes road but no one knows if its operational or not and cars are swerving all over the road.
Come in council kick your highways team up the **** before someone gets killed.

Report this post »

Skidrow says...
7:56am Tue 12 Feb 13

The water didn't need to be refreshed, it needed to be FILTERED - I E circulated from the wholly unsuitable skip the fish were kept in through a bacteria filter which changes the ammonia produced by the fish, which kills them, into something less harmful. That needed a pump, a filter, an aerator and correct advice. They could also have removed the ammonia with chemicals or zeolite stones could have been added for the same effect. None of these solutions involves throwing water around to create a hazard or a limp unbelievable excuse.

Report this post »

Kiddon72 says...
8:07am Tue 12 Feb 13

A woman is prosecuted by the RSPCA for giving her cat paracetamol when it was in pain yet when the council slaughter this many fish nothing happens.
All seems a bit too cosy to believe really.

Report this post »

mimseycal says...
9:11am Tue 12 Feb 13

The RSPCA won't do a thing. They are part of the 'establishment'. They mimic the police in the uniforms their inspectors wear, they demand entrance to homes when they call, intimating by their manner and tone they have a warrant (which they won't have) and the right of entry (which they don't have). They take on court cases - one that jumps to mind is one they won with a bill of over £300,000 in legal costs. The defendent was ordered to repay £15,000. of their costs.

They cannot afford to tee off the establishment. Imagine what would happen to their cozy little arrangement of intimidation and emotional blackmail (think of the poor little defenceless kitties) if the establishment turned against them.

As for the establishment ... they are only too happy to have a bunch of over zealous, adept manipulators who only occasionally overstep the mark as long as they just target individuals and small businesses such as family farms. It saves the establishment from having to enforce the law on animal husbandry.

Nah, it is all too cosy for them both and the fish don't matter in the scheme of things. A small price to pay (by the fish) to keep the scratching of the mutual backs going.

Don't get me wrong, I abhor animal cruelty and would be the first to step in. But I haven't supported the RSPCA for years and I never will. When I donate to an animal charity it is the PDSA that gets my money!

Report this post »

Morpheus says...
9:40am Tue 12 Feb 13

Fish dying, city dying. Sums up our council.

Report this post »

Dr Pork says...
9:54am Tue 12 Feb 13

"A member of the public, who asked not to be named..."
why, for fear of reprisals? I think the police could probably rustle up a safe house if needed under the witless protection scheme.

Report this post »

Joshiman says...
12:18pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Oh the old saying "Learnt valuable lessons" yeh right.You should have known better.

Report this post »

toldsloth says...
12:55pm Tue 12 Feb 13

I have already written to the RSPCA requesting that a prosecution be considered. I would ask others do the same. Nothing ventured and all that....

Report this post »

mimseycal says...
6:14pm Tue 12 Feb 13

According to a story in the mail on this issue the RSPCA claimed "'We did not have enough evidence to prosecute the council but are assisting them with their inquiries into what went wrong.'

Yeah, sure ... and the moon is made of green cheese!

http://www.dailymail
.co.uk/news/article-
2277109/Council-work
ers-killed-FORTY-fis
h-moving-filthy-SKIP
-repaired-pond.html

Report this post »

george smith says...
10:21pm Tue 12 Feb 13

Joshiman wrote:
Oh the old saying &quot;Learnt valuable lessons" yeh right.You should have known better.
That doesn't explain away that they employ animal welfare officers, how capable are these, how much are they paid?

Report this post »

click2find

About cookies

We want you to enjoy your visit to our website. That's why we use cookies to enhance your experience. By staying on our website you agree to our use of cookies. Find out more about the cookies we use.

I agree