Villagers came out in support of John Price after news that the River Lugg works were being investigated.
Kingsland parish council issued a statement in support of the farmer.
And Bircher ward county councillor Sebastian Bowen said the situation is more complicated than people think.
He said the parish council had been calling on the Environment Agency for more than five years for action to protect nearby cottages from flooding.
“They never came until late this September,” coun Bowen said.
“They sent about three people along and we spent a morning discussing the issues with some of the parish council, I was there too, along with some of the local residents.
“Eventually, the Environment Agency people came up and said they could see what some of the problems are.
“The third arch is completely blocked. There’s build up of silt on the banks which needs clearing away to get better access to the water and to get it away so it doesn’t build up and flood.
“They made these suggestions and then they said they would like the local farmer to do it for them, if that is at all possible. They didn’t say anything about permits, permissions or anything like that at all.
“Just get him to do it and that will be fine.
“John Price, who is the local farmer, did it completely pro-bono.”
The parish council says it supports the works undertaken at the direction and instigation of the Environment Agency and is in line with the appropriate guidelines, regulations and processes that may be applicable.
“The parish council has had a dialogue with the Environment Agency, and officers have attended online meetings in recent months,” they said.
“A site meeting with the Environment Agency in September 2020 identified issues near the bridge and the Environment Agency subsequently wrote that ‘the left hand bank directly upstream of the bridge could do with some reprofiling due to bank slumping… to ease conveyance as it is currently partially obstructing the third arch of the bridge and will look to the landowner to carry out these works’.
“Another issue highlighted by the Environment Agency was ‘a build-up of silt and growth mostly Himalayan Balsam on both the upstream and downstream sides’.
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