Wyrley and Essington nature reserve

[ditchcrawler]

It just came up on Facebook that the curly wyrley will become a nature reserve as of tomorrow http://www.wolverhampton.gov.uk/article/10664/Black-Country-Wyrley-and-Essington-Canal-Local-Nature-Reserve-Consultation

[nicknorman]

Hmmm well it could be a good thing. It could be a bad thing if the policy with eg vegetation is to "let nature run its course"!

[john6767]

I have skimmed through the plan and in the most it looks good.   It could certainly do with some love from the locals to not chuck their rubbish in there.  Perhaps the one dodgy idea being the possibility of giving the public access to the services, there is only Sneyd and Brownhills on the W&E anyway, so I don't think that makes a great difference, and there is Tescos by Brownhills anyway.

12 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

Hmmm well it could be a good thing. It could be a bad thing if the policy with eg vegetation is to "let nature run its course"!

I don't think that is the proposal, offside 1m from water edge is what I spotted, which is a big improvement from today!

[Jerra]

31 minutes ago, nicknorman said:

Hmmm well it could be a good thing. It could be a bad thing if the policy with eg vegetation is to "let nature run its course"!

I don't know of a single reserve where "let nature take its course" is the management scheme.  Virtually all reserves are made into reserves because of the habitat which needs managed to maintain it.

[cuthound]

As long as it doesn't  interfere with the Lichfield and Hatheron Trust plans to reopen the canal it is a good thing. May even encourage people to donate to the trust and get the canal reopened sooner 

[john6767]

14 minutes ago, cuthound said:

As long as it doesn't  interfere with the Lichfield and Hatheron Trust plans to reopen the canal it is a good thing. May even encourage people to donate to the trust and get the canal reopened sooner 

I don't believe that this covers those disused parts of the W&E like the "Lichfield," but seems to cover all the currently navigable parts except Anglesey Branch and Cannock Extension.  I would say this is more about improving what they have and not about opening canals for navigation, in reality wildlife does not care about navigation.

[cuthound]

15 minutes ago, john6767 said:

I don't believe that this covers those disused parts of the W&E like the "Lichfield," but seems to cover all the currently navigable parts except Anglesey Branch and Cannock Extension.  I would say this is more about improving what they have and not about opening canals for navigation, in reality wildlife does not care about navigation.

True, I was thinking along the lines that getting to locals more interested interested their canals might encourage them to donate to the LHCT and get the currently closed bit open sooner.

[john6767]

4 minutes ago, cuthound said:

True, I was thinking along the lines that getting to locals more interested interested their canals might encourage them to donate to the LHCT and get the currently closed bit open sooner.

That would be nice, but one step at a time, get them to stop chucking stuff in the canal first 

[Jerra]

I don't know the area but looking at a map here.  It seems to run from Dundalk Lane Great Wyrley to Broad Lane near Bloxwich North Station.

[AMModels]

2 hours ago, Jerra said:

I don't know the area but looking at a map here.  It seems to run from Dundalk Lane Great Wyrley to Broad Lane near Bloxwich North Station.

I think thats a different reserve mate, thats the disused section of the Wyrley bank branch, ran from Sneyd junction to Cheslyn Hay almost. The new one is centred around Wednesfield and the local councillor Phil Bateman was instrumental in getting it approved.

Heres his blog post.

Councillor Phil Bateman said ” I first raised The idea of a Local Nature Reserve on the WE way back in 2007. At that time I wrote to the City Council urging them to declare this canal because it was rich in wildlife and I could see the benefit it could bring to the residents of Wednesfield North and South, first as nature reserve and second as a leisure asset. But working and volunteering on this stretch of the canal over the last 10 years, I will predict that this decision will be a huge boost to this Village Local Economy as it will be to other settlements along the length of the LNR and canal.

It has took a long time to get everyone interested! But the decisions about to be taken by the City Council and the Canal and River Trust with Walsall MBC are really quite strategically huge. I want to thank my Wednesfield Councillors including my Ward Colleague’s like former Councillor Dave Jones, who also worked for this designation back in 2007. As has all the City Councillors in Wednesfield North and South.

The Wyrley and Essington Canal Local Nature Reserve will stretch from the centre of the City through, Heath Town Ward, Wednesfield South Ward and Wednesfield North Ward. It doesn’t stop there! It will continue all the way from Wolverhampton City boundaries to its end in Brownhills. It is a magnificent canal. It is historic ( it is 220 years old this year, built at a time when Napoleon was conquering Europe!) as well as being a vital waterway for boat traffic and an important wildlife corridor, for fish and birds and small mammals.

This unique LNR will stretch some 26 miles, it will be amongst – if not the longest LNR in the UK. It will attract walkers, and cyclist’s, boat and leisure craft, from across Britain and further. It will boost our Local Economy as it attracts tourists and others!

I am confident that this newly declared Local Nature Reserve (LNR)will live up to its billing as a publicly accessible site that is locally important for wildlife, education, economy and enjoyment.

I have worked tirelessly to get this status for our canal, and the social media interest has been one of the most important ways to gain public support.

Edited June 14, 2017 by AMModels

[Tim Lewis]

4 hours ago, john6767 said:

I don't believe that this covers those disused parts of the W&E like the "Lichfield," but seems to cover all the currently navigable parts except Anglesey Branch and Cannock Extension.  I would say this is more about improving what they have and not about opening canals for navigation, in reality wildlife does not care about navigation.

 

The Cannock Extension is already a SSSI/SAC

https://designatedsites.naturalengland.org.uk/SiteList.aspx?siteName=Cannock Extension Canal&countyCode=&responsiblePerson

Tim