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Bramblefields local nature reserve, East Chesterton - New habitat creation

Consultation open from 7 November 2022 to 1 December 2022, until midnight

Background

In 2018 an area of Bramble on the reserve was chosen to trial the use of recycled commercial waste as a low nutrient substrate (the surface or substance which something grows and lives on) for habitat creation, reflecting habitats found on the adjacent Chesterton Railway sidings.

Research shows that often such urban ‘brownfield’ sites can offer a greater species diversity (number of different plants and animals) than other urban green areas. This is mainly due to the varied landscape (albeit small scale) and different plants providing more opportunities for other species, particularly insects.

Further background

An approximately 12 metres long x 7 metres wide mound was created and then covered with recycled ceramics (wash basins, tiles). The mound was seeded with plants known to thrive in chalk grassland areas. This site has since been surveyed and monitored to assess the conservation value of using recycled waste for creating habitats. The resulting increasing in plants and invertebrates has been exponential. Based on the positive increase in diversity, we are proposing to create more trial mounds at Bramblefield’s local nature reserve.

This time we would seek to compare three different types of recycled materials: crushed concrete (grey on plan below), crushed bricks (orange on plan below) and sand (yellow on plan below) to create further diverse brownfield habitats. The mounds would each be approximately 10 metres long x 5 metres wide and 1 metre high and would sit next to the existing recycled ceramic mound (white area on plan below).

The areas proposed have already been surveyed for plants and invertebrates to ensure no scarce species are impacted and to allow ongoing monitoring.

To create the mounds for the imported substrates an area around one of the ponds (brown on plan below) would be scraped of vegetation and topsoil to provide additional wetland habitat. Depending on water table levels we may also seek to dig and remove the invasive non-native Crassula weed from the ponds at the same time.