Wildlife charity to manage four natural havens on Stafford council land

The Stafford Brooks Project, which involves Staffordshire Wildlife Trust, Stafford Borough Council, the Environment Agency and National Highways, is creating havens for flora and fauna as well as enhancing the areas for residents.

Volunteers have helped the charity plant hundreds of trees at Rising Brook, as well as installing a new boardwalk at Kingston Pool Covert North. New ponds and wildflower meadows have also been created.

Stafford Borough Council cabinet members were given an update on the project’s progress at their latest meeting. They also backed the signing of an agreement to enable the wildlife trust to manage four of the sites.

Councillor Tony Pearce, cabinet member for climate action and nature recovery, said: “The council has been working with the wildlife trust and Environment Agency to bring forward the Stafford Brooks project at a cost of £4.1m, which has been provided with funds from National Highways. It covers seven areas, two of which are on Local Nature Reserves, and the other areas are all owned by the borough council.

“The report proposes the wildlife trust will take responsibility for maintenance of four of those sites – Kingsmead Marsh, Rising Brook, Queensville and Riverside Local Nature Reserve. I have seen a number of these projects myself and they are very impressive, they are making considerable improvements to the habitat for wildlife around the town.

“I think it is an excellent project which is coming to fruition. I hope more people will be able to see these projects when they are more established and will see the benefits of them.”

Councillor Ant Reid, cabinet member for economic development and planning, said: “I’m heartened to see Staffordshire Wildlife Trust has agreed to carry out the future maintenance and management of these sites. They’re the people with the best skills, experience and on the ground knowledge to do this and this is a very good way of partnering with the experts in this area, allowing them to get on with what they do best.”

A report to the cabinet said that all major habitat works are now complete. It added: “The project aims to ensure that high quality habitats are established, maintained, and protected.

“The continuity of the watercourse network through Stafford’s floodplains provides a rare opportunity to connect these sites at a landscape scale. The Stafford Brooks project aimed to carry out habitat enhancement works, linking a number of sites, and putting into practice the principals of the ‘Nature Recovery Network’, a strategy which demonstrates the crucial role connected habitats play in creating robust and resilient wildlife populations.

“By signing the agreement, the council will authorise the wildlife trust and their contractors to arrange and carry out the required annual management works. This will be for a minimum of 10 years, after which time new funding applications will be considered including Agricultural Stewardship agreements to ensure that successful management outcomes continue for the long term.”