Preferred Options consultation document

Support

Representation ID: 94909

Received: 28/10/2019

Respondent: Earsham Estate

Summary: From the owner of the sites: We have a good track record in restoring our previous two gravel diggings to wetland features high in biodiversity. In Earsham, I have already created 26 new ponds, almost replacing all the ponds lost during the 20th Century; have restored another 32 ponds; and have myself worked as a wildlife pond adviser for both Suffolk Wildlife Trust and Froglife. The Freshwater Habitats Trust has evidence that ex-gravel diggings make exceptional sites for pond creation. We plan to make over 100 new ponds, and have the expertise to do it successfully for wildlife.

Our restoration scheme for the three proposed extension sites in Earsham, pledges the post-extraction land to be re-landscaped for nature conservation, just as has been the case with the two main previous extraction phases at Earsham.
The original mid-20th Century digging off Bath Hills Road saw the creation of a large lake and two ponds, which together comprise a haven for many less common birds, mammals, fish, invertebrate life and plants. Osprey has been recorded there and it is a major congregation point for newly-arrived swallows, house martins and sand martins each Spring.
The second digging, at Pheasants Walk, created a shallow scrape pond beloved of wading birds and wildfowl, alongside a large plain of heathy grassland and a clean water wildlife pond. Little ringed plover and oyster catchers breed there.
The proposed extensions to the Pheasants Walk Pit go a stage further: the creation of over 100 individual ponds to make what will probably be the densest concentration of pond habitats outside of major reserves in East Anglia.
According to the Freshwater Habitats Trust:
- Ponds (as opposed to lakes, ditches, streams and rivers) support two-thirds of all freshwater species, even though they only occupy 5% of the freshwater area.
- 50% of the UK's ponds were lost during the course of the 20th Century.
- 80% of the ponds which remain across the country are in a poor state.
- Aggregate extraction sites have been shown to be excellent places to create high quality wildlife ponds: in a recent survey of such ponds (in the Lower Windrush Valley, Oxfordshire), 80% of such newly created ponds on sand/gravel sites became classified as Priority Ponds for their high biodiversity levels.
- The reason these aggregate site ponds are so good is because (i) the ponds are fed by clean water, either groundwater or surface water from low intensity land use, and (ii) the ponds are located close to other wetland features such as lakes and rivers, which together creates a rich mosaic of wetland habitats.
- Ponds on aggregate sites support species not found in larger gravel pit lakes.
- Ponds are a priority habitat in the UK Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP), so adding new ponds and pond complexes into the matrix of habitats restored after aggregates extraction can contribute to the national Pond Habitat Action Plan (HAP). Ponds also provide habitats for 100 or so Biodiversity Action Plan priority species.
The Earsham Estate, the landowning company for these sites in Earsham, has a good record for pond conservation:
- The creation of 26 new ponds across the Estate in the last 20 years has restored the total number of ponds in the holding to 106, one pond short of the number of ponds recorded on the very detailed Ordnance Survey maps of 1888 (revised 1902).
- 32 existing ponds have been the subject of wildlife restoration work since the year 2000 - this is work which includes dredging and cutting back tree/scrub vegetation to allow light in.
- The creation and restoration of ponds has been funded jointly by the Countryside Stewardship Scheme, and with funds from past gravel extraction on the Estate.
- Previous gravel extraction on the Estate has resulted in the creation of 5 new ponds and one very large lake on the former extraction sites - all wholly or largely made over to nature conservation.
- The Estate owner has worked both for the charity Froglife and for Suffolk Wildlife Trust, in roles advising farmers and members of the public on wildlife pond creation and management.
The 100 plus ponds to be created will designed to feature varying sizes, shapes and depths to maximise the diversity of habitats. The surroundings are planned to be relatively low in nutrients (being formed of sandy subsoil), to be allowed to self-seed and managed by occasional mowing and low-intensity grazing to become a mosaic of grassy plain, scrub and woodland.
The restoration plan proposed therefore has the very real potential of going on to become a set of three neighbouring sites successfully rich in wildlife and a stronghold for less common plants and animals.