Upheaval By Pipelines
by Hilary Ash, Hon. Conservation Officer
Members living outside the Bromborough -
King Street Energy have applied to build a 58km double pipeline from the Mersey at Bromborough, through urban Eastham village, across the countryside outside Ellesmere Port, on across the Gowy Marshes (though avoiding our reserve) and down to just outside Northwich.
The pipeline would take water from the Mersey, use it to hollow out chambers in the rock salt beds, and return the brine via the second pipeline to the Mersey. Another gas pipeline would link the chambers to the gas grid at Warrington.
The purpose is to make storage for gas, which we now have to import as the North Sea beds are almost exhausted, to tide the nation over any disruptions to supply.
As you can imagine, the "carbon footprint" for such a scheme would be enormous.
I handled the objections for CWT to Wirral Borough, Ellesmere Port and Neston Borough,
and to Cheshire County Council. Apart from unsustainable development, the objections
included the destruction of large parts of a Site of Biological Importance at Frodsham
to build a pumping station, the disruption of water voles on the Gowy, Ince and Helsby
Marshes (a regionally-
All, that is, before anyone looks at the practicalities of getting twin 800mm pipelines under Long Plantation in Eastham Country Park, along part of New Chester Road, along Eastham Village Road and through Torr Park.
Of course, the argument in favour will be that the nation needs the gas storage. I understand that applications are in to use some of the empty gas field in the southern North Sea for the purpose, which sounds more practical as the infrastructure is already in place.
But we can all of us help lessen the demand for gas, and fossil fuels in general, by reducing our own energy usage as much as we can. If you haven't done so already, you will find it beneficial to contact the Energy Saving Trust (0800 512012) or its local office, Energy Projects Plus (0151 639 9499).
“Local Development Frameworks”
by Hilary Ash, Hon. Conservation Officer
All local councils are preparing Local Development Frameworks to replace existing structure and unitary development plans. These are the overall plans to guide development in an area, against which individual planning applications will be judged.
This central government scheme was intended to make dealing with such plans quicker and easier, but it has ended up making them take much longer.
Currently, all local authorities are busy getting up-
They will have extensive help from rECOrd, the local biological records centre. This will let them draw together the large amount of existing information on wildlife in Wirral, and display it on modern GIS systems. In this way it will be readily accessible to planners, so that they can identify:
· areas where survey work is needed,
· areas which are "hotspots" for wildlife
· corridors which will be increasingly important for wildlife to be able to move as the climate changes.
It will also help to review our 20-
When this and other reports are in, the LDF process will resume. This will be complicated in Cheshire by the move to two unitary authorities, so that the work already done by Ellesmere Port & Neston officers will need to be incorporated into the new West Cheshire.
It is very important that we comment on the developing LDFs, as getting good policies for wildlife and the environment in these has great effects on development for the coming years. PLEASE, could anyone who thinks they could spend time reading these documents for either of the local authorities and suggesting comments, get in touch with me. It needs a small team, especially when we eventually get to the spatial planning stage. Internet access helps, but documents are available in libraries, and we can usually get paper copies.
Contact me by email or phone on 0151 327 5923.
SBI Recording
by Edwin Samuels, Hon. Recording Officer.
SBIs (Sites of Biological Importance) are areas of land deemed to be of particular importance to our wildlife. In Wirral they include woods, ponds, remnants of heathland and several golf courses. Although most have been chosen for their botanical interest they often support unusual or rare species or just very good numbers of mammals, butterflies and/or other invertebrates.
They may have been specified simply because they hold a protected species. Though
non-
Constant Revision
Once designated, the standing of an SBI is not sacrosanct: it must be seen to have retained the properties which led to its designation. Recently we have recommended the declassification of two SBIs – but also recommended the adoption of three more.
With a list of 25 potential volunteer recorders we are better placed than other areas of the CWT with regard to keeping updated records. Normally SBIs are checked, subject to accessibilty, at least every ten years. However I personally am in favour of shortening this time – say to every three years – for some areas – eg. ponds, which can change relatively quickly. All collected data are filed and also sent to be collated by rECOrd, the local Biological Records Centre serving Cheshire, Halton, Warrington and Wirral.
Most of our recorders major on plants, but we have some other specialists, e.g. in
spiders, great-
Some publicly accessible local SBIs are Caldy Hill (SJ225860), Eastham Woods (SJ363816), Heswall Beacons (SJ271813) and Leasowe Gun Site (SJ277925).
We are always looking for additional recorders, especially those with specialist interest and knowledge, eg. of insects, beetles, pond life. If you are willing to help please email me.
But Will We Have Time To Finish
by Paul Loughnane
New Ferry Butterfly Park has been fortunate to host five corporate work days from our near neighbours Unilever in the last two years. In February this year we attracted a group from further afield – the Department of Works and Pensions based at Birchwood near Warrington. And they came in the winter season – which is even better.
They wanted to bring 35! In the end a more manageable eleven came. This event acted
as a stimulus to even more activity, as eight of our home-
David Nind led a scything party to cut the acid grassland area on the coal dust.
Sally Capewell led a turf-
At 12.30 the corporate volunteers retired to the local hostelry for lunch. On their return we like to give them a tour of the site to put their individual projects into context. When I asked if they wanted a tour they were concerned and said, ‘Will we have time to finish our projects?’ So it had to be a truncated tour.
Information Specialists….
Later in the season the Butterfly Park received a visit from the Information for
Decisions Division from Unilever. Glad to be liberated from their computers, they
were the biggest corporate group we have ever had – nineteen! Our five wheelbarrows
were put to the stretch, as the different groups vied for their use. Seven square
metres of turf was removed overlying the railway ballast to restart natural succession;
this will encourage carpets of Bird’s-
A five-
…..Do Butterflies Grow?
It was a sunny and hot day, and Small coppers were flitting so fast it was hard to make them out. When one finally came to rest the volunteers were amazed at its small size – all of 32 mm. They asked “Do butterflies grow?”
The answer of course is No – the adults emerge from the chrysalis and when they have pumped up their wings they grow no further. However butterfly populations do grow – as we clearly see in the Park.
Events like these help to keep the Park in good shape. Do give us a visit, Sundays 2 – 4 pm.
Our Busy Youngsters
Our January WATCH meeting saw us making a calendar to record our activities for the year. In February we made a bird box with Sarah and put it up in Eastham Woods.
The March event was a great day. Some of us managed to get to Thurstaston for 7 a.m. – despite a very strenuous wind. There across the car park was a large pine tree blown down. That was exciting enough, but who would have thought that the first animal we would see was a badger? This was exciting! Matt said in all the years he had been a Thurstaston Ranger he had never seen one there. We went on up the Dungeon and from there in total we saw 11 hares. They seemed to divide their time between quietly feeding and chasing madly around. That was an unforgettable morning.
May found us once again out early. Matt had put out five baited traps on Friday night and we were all excited when we found the first one had been sprung. A shrew! – so much energy packed in a tiny frame! We had a good look at it in our tray before letting it go safely. The second trap had a field mouse in it – but the minute we got it out into our tray with a bound it was off and racing for freedom. The other traps were empty – but two out of five was a good score!
We went on to have a walk along the Wirral Way hearing lots of migrant birds newly
arrived from southern Africa: Common whitethroat, Lesser whitethroat, Willow warbler,
Grasshopper warbler (with a song like a fishing line being reeled in!), Yellow hammer,
Blackcap and Chiffchaff. The morning was perfectly rounded off for us when we came
upon a field full of Whimbrels, and nearby some Hares -
In June at Eastham we are going to look for minibeasts -
Red Rocks Marsh Nature Reserve
The site is renowned for its small natterjack colony, monitored by Chris Butterworth & Ranger Lynne Greenstreet. In 2007 five to seven males were heard calling, a number of spawn strings were seen, and some 4500 toadlets emerged in June. In autumn, Lynne and her volunteers had cleared the scrapes along the shore of vegetation to maintain suitable breeding pools. If you should hear any natterjacks calling this year (most likely after sunset) please let Lynne know at Leasowe Lighthouse, on 678 5488.
Many birds use the area – Sedge and Reed warblers, Reed bunting, Water rail and now the graceful Little egret. The plant survey recently revised covered the freshwater marshes, reedbed, dunes and expanding salt marsh. An impressive number of plant species were found, among them good numbers of Southern marsh orchid. Mackay’s horsetail, a hybrid occurring only in Wirral, is easily spotted along the boardwalk.
New Brighton Marine Lake
When walking round the Marine lake at New Brighton who would guess that its brackish waters harbour such a diversity of weird and wonderful creatures! New CWT member Margaret Coles is not only clearing the lake of rubbish but also monitoring what is living in and around it, and campaigning in its defence. It is splendid to have on board such an enthusiastic new member!
A Splendid Opportunity
For some fifteen years a volunteer and his bicycle have delivered our Newsletters
in West Kirby, Hoylake, Meols, Moreton, Upton, Arrowe, Thingwall and parts of Heswall.
For several years he was also delivering in Oxton, Birkenhead, Tranmere, Burton &
Puddington. A large reduction in our postage bill. Alas he and his bicycle are having
to part company – which gives a chance to others members looking for an excuse to
keep fit. With only (now) three deliveries a year there is ample time for recovery.
If you can deliver in any one (or more) of these areas, please contact Linda on 342
1395 or by email and offer to join our thirty-
Recent Meetings
Since the last Newsletter we have heard from three very different speakers.
Patrick Cleary, economist and environmental activist, made a forceful presentation
on the threat of global warming and the end of cheap oil. Strong though his arguments
then were, he did not, I think, foresee how quickly the oil costs would rocket in
the next three months. His was an excellently prepared outline of the need for local
communities to be self sufficient, to use less energy, and to turn their immediate
worlds into places where people count. Swap shops, cycling workshops, allotments,
direct human contact become high-
Steve Harris of the Barn Owl Trust is always a treat to listen to; his enthusiasm
is catching and he delights in telling of the success achieved by his band of dedicated
workers -
On the lighter side, one was reminded of Educating Archie and the ventriloquist’s
doll – for in Steve’s case he had brought with him in a card-
Martyn Jamieson, following the AGM, gave an excellent account of his travels among
the Scottish islands, where he has long gone mountaineering, bird-
Perhaps the most impressive item among his rich material was a perpendicular fossil of a tree of the Redwood type some fifteen metres high; in a cliff face now exposed to view by waves breaking on a beach on Mull. In the remote past it had been engulfed by lava, but while the outer parts had burned away the core remained intact – to this day.
Martyn, former Head Ranger of Wirral BC Ranger Service, is now Warden of the Kindrogan Field Centre, Enochdhu, Blairgowrie.
Well Done Paul and Company
by Hilary Ash and Barbara Greenwood, on behalf of Wirral Wildlife committee
The Keith Davidson Award of the Wirral Society is presented to a person or organisation
that has made a significant improvement to Wirral's landscape. This year we are delighted
that Paul Loughnane and the Wirral Countryside Volunteers are the recipients of the
award. Below is our submission -
The Countryside Volunteers do a variety of work to improve Wirral's countryside for people and wildlife. They do such tasks as traditional hedge laying (to thicken up hedges for birds to nest); coppicing of hazel, etc. for woodland wild flowers; coppicing willow for pond life to benefit; removing scrub from heathland to allow heathers to flourish; planting trees; clearing ponds; scything wildflower grassland; and making paths, steps and stiles to improve access for people. They have been running for approx. 30 years, and include a wide age range, from 20s to 60+. The established members are adept at training up new recruits in the necessary skills, from wielding a bowsaw to safely swinging a scythe or to building a habitat pile.
The Volunteers work mostly on publicly-
Paul Loughnane is secretary of Wirral Countryside Volunteers, and organises their programme of over 20 task days a year, managing wild areas on Wirral for the benefit of wildlife and people. He has been volunteering with them for at least 18 years. Paul is himself highly skilled in countryside management tasks. He is always keen to pass on these skills to others and organises training days in such skills as hedging and scything, as well as training people informally.
Paul is also secretary of New Ferry Butterfly Park, Wirral Wildlife's community nature
reserve on the former Bebington Station railway goods yard. Since the Park was created
in 1993 he has organised and managed all the practical work and taken a large role
in obtaining grants to fund it, adding up to many more days of voluntary work per
year. He also records butterflies on the Park, writes press releases and newsletter
articles for both WCV and the Park, sits on Wirral Wildlife committee and generally
puts in hours of voluntary work to benefit wildlife in Wirral. All this on top of
a full-
