29 July 2010

Unique floating pontoon attracts wild visitors

Construction of the unique pontoon designed to float on one of the lakes at Brockholes Wetland and Woodland Reserve site was completed this week. This is the first stage of the project to construct the Brockholes Visitor Centre at the 106 hectare reclaimed wetland habitat near Preston.

The new Northwest natural visitor attraction will open to the public in 2011 and hopes to attract over 250,000 people annually from across the UK. It will also provide a valuable resource for local communities to use, encouraging healthy active lifestyles, and increasing interaction with the natural environment.

The pontoon was designed by Adam Khan Architects, and engineered by Price & Myers and Max Fordham. Constructed by Mansell Construction and Balfour Beatty Civil Engineering, the innovative platform is a cellular reinforced concrete structure with polystyrene infills. Special measures have been taken in line with the sustainable objectives of the project, including the use of 4800 tonnes of recycled concrete and environmental management. Floating on the largest lake on the site, the pontoon will support a cluster of 5 buildings forming the new landmark Visitor Centre, and bringing the experience of the wetland habitat closer to the visitors.

Stakeholders from the Northwest Regional Development Agency (NWDA), and Forestry Commission, alongside other partners including Natural England, saw first hand the completion of the structure and enjoyed a presentation on the next stages of the Brockholes development by Project Manager of the site, Ian Selby of the Lancashire Wildlife Trust, and the architect who has designed the visitor centre, Adam Khan. The project is funded by £8.6 million investment from the NWDA under the Forestry Commission led regeneration programme ‘Newlands’. It is intended that once the wetland opens to the public it will become a self funding attraction.

Now that the pontoon is complete work will begin on the sustainable visitor centre. The innovative, low impact buildings reflect the vision of LWT and it’s stakeholders in producing a genuinely sustainable development, whilst also gaining BREEAM Outstanding accreditation. This includes energy conservation, renewable technology, reduced water usage, composting and recycling.

Although the site is currently closed to the public, the wetland is attracting a high number of visitors of the feathery kind. Brockholes is already an important breeding and migration site for 163 bird species and since work began on the site the number of rare species are increasing with the improvements. Consequently it will offer a unique nature conservation experience to the visitor, certainly not experienced in the region and arguably not found elsewhere in the UK.

Speaking at the event the Lancashire Wildlife Trust site manager Ian Selby said:

2010 is the International year of Biodiversity, where across the world we are celebrating the multitude of species that make up our natural environment. A fundamental aspect of Brockholes is to protect an important wetland habitat for the benefit of the region and to increase bird and insect numbers. I am pleased to report that the site is already attracting some of the rarer wetland birds like redshank, reed bunting and little ringed plover.

Keith Jones, Regional Director of The Forestry Commission, said:

One of the key attractions of this woodland and wetlands site is the nature conservation experience is that people can readily observe biodiversity in action. With the completion of the pontoon we can already see how visitors will be attracted to this site will enjoy first-hand interaction with the environment around them, bringing the public closer to nature, and providing a socio-economic uplift to the locality.

Stephen Broomhead Chief Executive of the NWDA, said:

The Brockholes investment under the Newlands scheme provides an excellent example of how the rich natural environment of the Northwest can be harnessed to promote positive economic growth for the region. Not only will Brockholes provide a unique visitor experience, it will enhance the quality of life for the local community and encourage investment in the region.

Lancashire Wildlife Trust is working with the Forestry Commission and NWDA to realise the long-term vision for the site. This includes an outdoor play area, opportunities for canoeing, fishing, walking, running and cycling as well as developing distinctive and memorable natural habitats to increase biodiversity.

Editors Notes

The site

Brockholes is a 106-hectare site made up of former gravel workings. It is located to the North East of Junction 31 of the M6 at a strategic position in Central Lancashire within the City of Preston. It offers a major opportunity to sustain and further develop a high value biodiversity asset accessible to large numbers of people.

It will be the hub of a network of wetland sites in this part of the North West of England, offering an introduction to wildlife in the region and a link to other sites.

It links a mosaic of wildlife havens in the Ribble Valley. These include adjacent ancient semi-natural woodlands and unimproved grasslands, in both of which the Lancashire Wildlife Trust plays a key management role – 166 hectares in total. It will also be one of the key attractions in the new Ribble Coast and Wetlands Regional Park, which stretches down the tidal reaches of the River Ribble to the Fylde coast.

Investment and regeneration

Newlands stands for New Economic Woodlands. Launched in the summer of 2003, Newlands is a unique £59 million scheme that is reclaiming large areas of derelict, underused and neglected (DUN) land across England’s Northwest, transforming them into thriving, durable, community woodlands. It is the 21st Century face of land regeneration: carefully planned; intelligence-led; delivering widespread public benefits; enhancing the environment; and delivered through partnerships, most crucially that between the Northwest Regional Development Agency and the Forestry Commission. Commitment of funding for the 20-year scheme has been secured from the partnership that is supporting Newlands.

Investment has been made into Brockholes because of the project’s potential to stimulate the economies of Preston and Lancashire. It will create several dozen new local jobs, encourage many new visitors to the area and dramatically improve an area of land currently classified as brownfield, but which is on a high profile gateway to the region – immediately adjacent to junction 31 of the M6 motorway. Brockholes will establish a highly visible strategic asset using the sub-region’s natural economy as a unique selling point.

The development of the site will also provide a high quality environment for the local community, which is within the top 10% of the UK’s National Index of Multiple Deprivation as well as an ERDF Objective 2 area.

Brockholes will be also one of the key attractions in the new Ribble Coast and Wetlands Regional Park, which stretches down the tidal reaches of the River Ribble to the Fylde coast.

Additional funding had been provided to the project from the Tubney Charitable Trust and Lancashire Environment Fund.

Wildlife and Conservation

Brockholes is situated at an important location in the River Ribble corridor just upstream of the tidal estuary and on the fringe of the Bowland Uplands. To date observations on its biodiversity have been largely confined to birdlife, much of which has been drawn to the site by the existence of extensive areas of open water. Because the site has been actively quarried until recently, it has not been classified in terms of its biodiversity value. However it is designated as a County Biological Heritage Site and meets SSSI criteria.

In addition to Brockholes, the adjacent Bolton Wood is wet woodland and, together with Red Scar and Tunbrook Woods, forms part of the largest complex of semi natural ancient woodland in the Lancashire Plains and Valleys Natural Area. Not only does this area include some of the best wildlife features in Lancashire but it also has a major role to play in greening the Central Lancashire City region.

The overarching aims of conservation management will be to bring all habitats into favourable condition with special emphasis on UK Priority Habitats and those supporting UK Priority Species, and to create/expand habitats with a similar emphasis. Overall objectives are to help to achieve relevant targets in the UKBAP and Lancashire LBAP.

Ornithological significance

• Diversity of breeding species: A total of 53 species bred on the site between 2000 and 2005, 47 of them in most years.

• Diversity of passage and wintering species: An additional 110 species were recorded during the same period, bringing the total to 163, thus meeting the guideline for selection as SSSI (150 species) on the grounds of avian species diversity.

• The open waters and their margins, together with the grassland, are particularly important for breeding birds, in particular for waders (Redshank, Lapwing, Common Sandpiper, Oystercatcher, Ringed Plover and Little Ringed Plover), and wetland passerines (Sand Martin, Grey Wagtail, Reed Warbler, Sedge Warbler and Reed Bunting), as well as Little and Great Crested Grebes and Kingfisher. Relict hedgerows and scrub support, among more common species, breeding Song Thrush and Tree Sparrow.

• The spring assemblage of passage Whimbrel in Lancashire is the largest in the country. Brockholes is one of just four roost sites in Lancashire and is currently the second largest.

• Despite severe limitations on access due its being a working quarry, Brockholes has become one of Lancashire’s major birdwatching sites, attracting regular visitors from throughout east and central Lancashire. Local ornithologists are confident it could become one of NW England’s major wetland sites, on a par with Leighton Moss, Marshside and Martin Mere.