Ten-year plan revealed to look after Cannock Chase
A radical 10-year plan has been drawn up to protect Cannock Chase which involves cutting back trees and burning heather.
Experts want to ensure the natural habitats of the beauty spot are preserved for decades to come - and have been discussing the ideas for a year before formally putting them forward.
In an attempt to stop the land from becoming overgrown, they want to slash back trees, carry out controlled burning of heather and spray out-of-control bracken.
A small pilot scheme could also be put in place to bring back low-level grazing in the south of the Chase.
Councillor Mark Winnington, Staffordshire County Council’s cabinet member for Cannock Chase, said: “We are guardians of the Chase and must manage it sustainably to preserve the very landscape that makes it so attractive and popular today.
“These areas are designated at national and European level for their wildlife interest, as well as being fantastic areas for recreation, landscape and cultural heritage and if we are to conserve the area’s special features and keep the site accessible, it must be actively managed.”
Part of the submission to Natural England will incorporate environmentally-friendly methods, including a proposal to graze no more than six cattle in the Moors Gorse area in 2020.
Councillor Winnington added: “The pilot scheme will allow us to introduce the idea carefully and let people see how grazing would work in practise alongside all the other ways of managing the landscape.”
Deputy leader of Cannock Chase Council Gordon Alcott said he also supported the plans.
He said: “This is what we have to do with these big open spaces. It helps protect the regeneration of the heather on the Chase and will bring back wildlife which had disappeared over the years.
“We are preserving the Chase for future generations.”
