A MEETING will take place next week about the Mill Loch in Lochmaben, with the organisers keen to galvanise the community to help support the site.
It’s being held on Tuesday, January 9, at 6 pm in the town hall and everyone is invited.
Jane Purdie has been working with Alison Rogerson and other residents, as well as the community council, since 2022 in a bid to help restore the water quality and nature at the loch, which has a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) designation.
They are concerned about the impact of raw sewage, invasive water lilies and garden waste.
Their priority is to get it cleaned up and ultimately they would love to see the reintroduction of the rare vendace fish.
Jane this week explained what they have been up to in the last few months, saying: “We have continued to work away in the background. We now have a contractor to cut and access through farm land and kind co-operation of tractor help from the farmer.
“We had a promise from Dumfries and Galloway Council for disposal of the lilies. We have some support from the Barony in relation to volunteers and tools.”
She is hopeful of more action this year, adding: “Tuesday’s meeting is hopefully going to help us now co-ordinate a group, and we need to access funding and a volunteer base.”
Mill Loch is believed to be about 55 feet deep.
As its name indicates, it originally supplied a mill in the town, but its main claim to fame is that it was home to a population of vendace fish. The last one was caught in the 1960s.
