The Nature of Rushcliffe 2019

Rushcliffe Nature Conservation Strategy Implementation Group

The Nature of Rushcliffe 2019 - Annual Report – published 2020

Contents

1. Introduction
2. Chairman's Statement
3. Appendix A - Indicators of Achievement
4. Appendix B - Nature Reserves
5. Appendix C - Voluntary practical nature conservation work carried out in Rushcliffe
6. Appendix D - Condition of SSSI’s in Rushcliffe (as assessed by Natural England)
7. Appendix E - Barn Owl Results
8. Appendix F - Access to Nature
9. Appendix G - Progress report for the Nature Conservation Strategy 2016 - 2020
10. Appendix H - Nature Conservation Projects and Activities in Rushcliffe
11. Appendix I - Biodiversity Opportunity Mapping Project

 

1. Introduction

The strategy group was set up in 2003 to implement the Rushcliffe Nature Conservation Strategy and consists of a range of organisations and groups with an interest in Rushcliffe’s wildlife. Member organisations of the implementation group include:

• Rushcliffe Borough Council
• Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust (NWT)
• Nottinghamshire County Council
• Nottinghamshire Biodiversity Action Group

And various local wildlife groups, interest groups and parish councils

The Rushcliffe Nature Conservation Strategy and action plan was reviewed and updated and adopted in 2010 and again in 2015. The actions are to be carried out by a range of organisations including those on the implementation group.

Nature conservation in Rushcliffe is provided by broadly based community activity, with work carried out by a range of ‘Friends’ groups, work parties and other groups and individuals, as well as “official” organisations. A key role for RNCSIG is to bring together the organisations and community-based activities to provide both an overview of Rushcliffe conservation activities, but also to seek ways and means to further extend conservation activity in a strategic fashion.

The strategic aim is to protect and enhance Rushcliffe’s wildlife resources, thereby contributing towards local and national biodiversity action plan targets.

The progress of the strategy is assessed and reported in the appendices.

For more details see RNCSIG Facebook

2. Chairman's Statement

There continues to be a wide range of wildlife/nature conservation activity in Rushcliffe, all contributing to the aims and objectives of the Strategy.

Wildlife Projects

Grassland management has continued to be a significant issue for RNCSIG and there are signs that Notts County Council are thinking about embracing changes to road verge management that may see overall less mowing of verges and potentially a trail of limited, selected wildlife friendly mowing, so fingers crossed there is some genuine action. In addition, locally Rushcliffe are looking at funding the use of a specialist mower for "difficult" locations on a number of reserves in 2019 and action by one local person seems to have led to an improved (lighter touch) mowing regime on a species rich verge in West Bridgford. We had hoped that the Highways Agency would agree to fund a species rich grassland creation project along part of the A46 past Cotgrave Forest, however at present the cost of the temporary traffic safety measures prevented this from getting funding.

We are pleased to see that Rushcliffe Borough Council have continued funding their free native tree provision to local residents and parish councils this year and we understand next year as well. In 2019 they provided some 1,500 trees to residents and also batches of trees to 15 parish councils.

Other projects ongoing are the Rushcliffe Barn Owl Project (now part of Notts Birders) which ringed at least 90 chicks in 2018, the Grizzled Skipper Project that continues with habitat creation work along the Great Central Railway, as well as undertaking extensive
recording on sites across the area, the Badger Edge Vaccination Scheme (BEVS) vaccinated a record 84 badgers in 2018 and is continuing into 2019 and 2020 (although there have been issues relating to herd breakdowns in adjacent areas) and the newly formed Notts Amphibian & Reptile Group (NARG) has been particularly promoting a survey in Rushcliffe that has led to the confirmation of Slowworms at Wilwell and evidence for extensive grass snake in that area.

Butterfly Conservation continue to run several butterfly transects in Rushcliffe transects at Bingham Linear Park, Wheatcroft Wood and Cotgrave Forest.

Rushcliffe Country Park are planning to run a second Bioblitz in 2020 studying the wildlife of the park and promoting an understanding of our local wildlife to a wider audience.

Sharphill Wood has suffered significant tree die back in the last couple of years from multiple fungal infection (NOT Ash Dieback) and for safety reasons quite a few trees have had to be felled along paths. In addition, the adjacent housing development has involved considerable discussions with Friends of Sharphill Wood, RBC, NWT and the developers to ensure the agreed mitigation measures are implemented.

Water levels on a section of the Grantham Canal in the Kinoulton area have declined significantly in 2018/2019 and as there are no significant water replenishment sources, we may see a significant change of habitat from a pond habitat to a more marshy/scrub willow habitat along this section. Other stretches do not appear to be affected.

NWT are working to set up a Friends Group for the Gresham Marsh (West Bridgford) site. Some habitat management work has been undertaken with the help of a small group of local volunteers. The Dewberry Hill site (Radcliffe on Trent) now has funding from the
Parish Council to carry out grassland management on one section of the site, they have also put up signage

A Friends of Group has been created to help in the managing of Skylarks nature reserve and the Wildlife Trust now also have a regular mid-week work party carrying out tasks on all the local NWT reserves.

Volunteers

The 2018 Celebrating Rushcliffe Awards saw Ian Workman & Tim Williams recognized for their work at Wilwell Farm Cutting, Bill Logan for his work running Friends of Sharphill Wood and Samuel Mark for his contribution to Skylarks nature reserve.

The 2018 Rushcliffe Volunteer Forum hosted by the East Bridgford Biodiversity Group focussed particularly on Trees & Woodland and 35 people attended. This year it will be at Upper Saxondale on the 28th Sept and focus this year is on Planning and Biodiversity
Gain, full details will be circulated.

Whilst Carol Collins left the Steering Group after many years participation, Tim Williams (Wilwell) and Phil Taylor (Radcliffe on Trent Conservation Group) joined the RNCSIG committee, helping us to maintain a range of interests and local voices.

Keeping in Touch

With South Notts Local Group running their programmes of wildlife walks and talks and various U3A groups having specific wildlife sections there are a range of opportunities to have contact with local wildlife. In addition, via E Mail, press releases to local parish mags and web sites we try to maintain contact with the wildlife community across the Borough and with individuals.

Planning Issues

The Strategy Group put a significant effort into responding to the latest version of the Rushcliffe Local Plan for Housing and Development commenting on both the policies relating to nature conservation and on the wildlife implications of the selected development areas. We also participated in the Net Biodiversity Gain consultation bought out by the government, looking at the means by which net gain could be funded by development.

Future

Work on a Strategy for a Wilder Trent Valley along the whole Trent Valley continues with Derbyshire Wildlife Trust hosting a project officer. What this means for the Rushcliffe section is unclear but with major sites like Attenborough, Skylarks/Holme Pierrepont and
Colwick (plus smaller locations such as Gresham Marsh, The Hook, Netherfield Lagoons and Radcliffe on Trent Lily Ponds) the sector is likely to part of the plan, potentially looking to exploit the Biodiversity Opportunity Mapping exercise results.

On a smaller scale (but potentially linking in up with the Trent Valley Project) we continue to work on the Cotgrave Forest Focal Area.

Gravel extraction is going to have a significant impact for many years. The existing extraction at Lings Farm (East Leake) has been extended along Kings Brook. The eventual intention was that the main lake area become a nature reserve, but it`s funding is an open question. In addition, there are proposals for gravel extraction at Shelford and Barton in Fabis and whilst the restoration plans many years hence are intended to create wildlife friendly areas, at least in the case of Barton, several existing Local Wildlife Sites will be damaged/lost as part of the extraction process.

First published in 2003, in 2020 we are due to have the third review of the Rushcliffe Nature Conservation Strategy and as on previous occasion there will be consultations with the Rushcliffe nature conservation community.

 

Gordon Dyne
Chair - Rushcliffe Nature Conservation Strategy Implementation Group

Appendix A - Indicators of Achievement

As part of the strategy, eleven indicators of achievement were selected to measure the success of the strategy. The management of LWS is no longer recorded; therefore indicator 3 has been withdrawn. Listed below are the indicators with the results for the year from January 2017 to December 2017.

Improvement is measured as:

• Improving
• No change / no previous data
• Deteriorating

1. % of nature reserves (as listed in our ‘Nature of Rushcliffe Annual Reports’) with current management plans. Target = 100% sites (Objective 2)
   NO CHANGE / NO PREVIOUS DATA
   • As of December 2018, there are forty seven sites managed predominantly as nature reserves, thirty four of these sites have current management plans (72%). Three sites have management plans in preparation. New reserves have yet to have
     management plans produced.
2. Hours of practical work carried out on nature reserves by volunteers. Target = Maintain or increase year on year across the Borough (Objective 2).
   IMPROVING
   • In the year January 2018 to December 2018, the estimated number of hours of voluntary nature conservation work carried out in Rushcliffe was 12,519 hours. Last year’s voluntary work was 12,496.5 hours.

4. Number of schools / Youth Organisations in Rushcliffe engaged in NWT related education activities. Target = 6 schools each year (Objective 5).
   DETERIORATING
   • In 2018 a total of 8 activity sessions was run with 5 schools, engaging with 186 children. A further activity was held with a local cub scout group.
5. Number of barn owl boxes installed and available for use and number of barn owl chicks raised in boxes. Target = maintain number of boxes available for use and sustain level of barn owl chicks raised (Objective 3 & 6)
   IMPROVING
   • The number of boxes available in 2018 was 180 boxes. The three-year average numbers of chicks ringed, increased from 85 chicks in 2017 to 97 chicks in 2017. This is within normal variation for the species, however the year was impacted by a prolonged hot and dry spell which caused breeding to fall away in late summer. Further details are shown in appendix E
6. Percentage of nature reserves with wildlife related public events (at least one per year). Target = 70% of sites with at least one event per year (Objective 5).
   DETERIORATING
   • Thirteen sites (that we are aware of) held public events during 2018 or 28%.
7. Percentage of Parishes / West Bridgford Wards with publicly accessible natural green spaces (39% in 2015, 48% in 2018). Target = 3 more parishes/wards with at least one accessible natural green space by 2025. (Objective 6).
   NO CHANGE / NO PREVIOUS DATA
   • 48% of parishes and West Bridgford wards have accessible natural green spaces. The accessibility of ‘green’ sites in Rushcliffe is shown in Appendix F.
8. Number of Local Wildlife Sites (LWS). Target = No net loss of LWS sites (Objective 1/2/3/4/6).
   IMPROVING
   • As of March 2019, there are 226 sites designated as LWS, this is an overall increase of 1 site. The area of Local Wildlife Sites is 1889 hectares, down from 1891 hectares (NBGRC), a decrease of 2 hectares, possibly due to more accurate mapping.
9. Percentage of tree canopy cover in Rushcliffe. Target = increase up to 20% from a base of 11.1% in 2020 (Obj 3).
   DETERIORATING
   • The number of Tree Preservation Orders (TPO) as of July 2019 is 268, down from 277 (covering from individual trees to groups of trees and woodlands, so much more than 268 trees are covered by TPOs).
10. Area of Biodiversity Action Plan habitat created, restored or bought under active conservation management in order to link or buffer existing wildlife habitat. Target = 30 hectares grassland, 10 hectares woodland, 10 hectares wetland between 2021 and 2025 (Objective 1/2/3/4).
    IMPROVING
    • Work we have financed / carried out during 2018/19:
      • Keyworth Meadow Pollarding;
      • Brushcutting at Wilford Claypit.
    • Cumulative Total (since 2016):
      • Wildlife Grassland: 2 hectares;
      • Woodland: 0 hectares;
      • Wetland: 0.8 hectares;
      • Ponds: 0 m2,
      • Hedgerow: 266 m,
      • Number of trees planted (outside woodlands): 108.
11. Percentage of SSSI units in favourable condition. Target = increase year on year from base of 24% in 2015 (Objective 2/3).
    NO CHANGE / NO PREVIOUS DATA
    • In December 2018, 12.5% of Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) units were in favourable condition. Full results are shown in Appendix D.

 

Appendix B - Nature Reserves

This is the list of nature reserves in Rushcliffe as at March 2018, which is used for the basis of this report.

List of nature reserves in Rushcliffe as at March 2022

Site	Ownership (Management)	Area - hectares	Designation	Habitats	Management Plan	Public Access
Bingham Linear Walk	Bingham Town Council (Friends Group)	12	LWS, LNS	Grass, Wood	Yes	Yes
Bridge Field Embankment, West Bridgford	Rushcliffe Borough Council	0.79	-	Grass, Wood	No	Yes
Bridgford Street Wildflower Meadow, East Bridgford	East Bridgford Parish Council (East Bridgford Wildlife and Biodiversity Group)	0.5	-	Grass	Yes	Yes
Bridgford Street Copse, East Bridgford	Southwell Diocese of the Church of England (East Bridgford Wildlife and Biodiversity Group)	0.5	-	Wood	Yes	Yes
Bunny Old Wood	Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust	16	LWS	Wood	2019	Yes
Compton Acres, West Bridgford (Butterfly LWS)	Nottinghamshire County Council	5.85	LWS	Grassland, Scrub	Not known	Not known
Collington Common, West Bridgford	Rushcliffe Borough Council	1.4	-	Grass	Yes	Yes
Costock Pond	Costock Parish Council	0.8	-	Pond, Grass	Yes	Yes
Cotgrave Country Park	Nottinghamshire County Council (Friends Group)	60	LWS	Grass Pond Lake Wood Reedbed	Yes	Yes
Dewberry Hill, Radcliffe-on-Trent	Nottinghamshire County Council (Radcliffe-on-Trent Parish Council / (Radcliffe on Trent Conservation Group))	8.6	LWS	Grass Wood	Yes	Yes
Gotham Railway Path	Gotham Parish Council	0.9	-	Wood Grass	Not known	Yes
Gotham Sandbanks / Gotham Nature Reserve	British Gypsum (Gotham Nature Reserve)	1.05	SSSI, LWS	Grass, Wood	Yes	Yes
Grantham Canal	Canal & River Trust	25	SSSI, LWS	Pond Marsh Reedbed	Yes	Yes
Green Line, West Bridgford	Rushcliffe Borough Council	1.4	LWS	Grass, Wood	Yes	Yes
Gresham Marsh, West Bridgford	Environment Agency	8.8	LWS	Grass Marsh Reedbed	Yes	Yes
Gypsum Way	British Gypsum / Nottinghamshire County Council	0.03	-	Grass	Not known	Yes
Holme Pierrepont Country Park	Nottinghamshire County Council	109	part LWS	Grass Wood Pond	Not known	Yes
Keyworth Burial Ground	Keyworth Parish Council	1.05	-	Grass	Yes	Yes
Keyworth Meadows	Keyworth Parish Council (Friends Group)	1.25	LWS, LNR	Grass Pond	Yes	Yes
Langar Community Wood	Naturescape	4.7	-	Wood, Pond Grassland	Yes	Yes
Langar Village Pond	Langar Village Pond Trust	0.02	-	Pond	Not known	Yes
Lily Ponds, Radcliffe-on-Trent	Radcliffe-on-Trent Parish Council (Radcliffe on Trent Conservation Group)	4.7	Part LWS	Grass Pond	Yes	Yes
Logan’s Trail	Gotham Environmental Trust	4	-	Wood Pond	Not known	Yes
Meadow Covert Wood	Rushcliffe Borough Council	2		Wood	Yes	No
Meadow Park, East Leake	Rushcliffe Borough Council (ELPC / Friends Group)	18	-	Grass Stream	Yes	Yes
Orston Millennium Green	Orston Parish Council	1	-	Grass Pond	Yes	Yes
Queens Wood, Whatton	Whatton-in-the-Vale Parish Counci	0.25	-	Wood	Not known	Yes
Rushcliffe Country Park	Rushcliffe Borough Council	36	LWS, LNR	Grass Wood Lake Pond Reedbed	Yes	Yes
Sharphill Wood, Edwalton	Rushcliffe Borough Council (Friends Group)	9.6	LWS, LNR	Wood	Yes	Yes
Sheldon Field, Cropwell Butler	National Playing Field Association (Sheldon Field Management Committee)	10.4	-	Grass	Yes	Yes
Skylarks (incorporating Blott’s Pit), Holme Pierrepont	Notts Wildlife Trust	47	LWS	Grass Lake Wood Reedbed	Yes	Yes
Springdale Wood, East Bridgford	Woodland Trust (Friends of Springdale Wood)	1.4	-	Wood	Yes	Yes
Stone Pit Wood	Rushcliffe Scout District	3.1	LWS	Wood, Grass	Yes	No
Sutton Bonnington Diamond Wood’s	Nottingham University / Woodland Trust	19 and 10	-	Wood	Yes	Yes
Sutton Bonington Spinney and Meadow	Sutton Bonington Parish Council	2.5	LNR	Grass Wood	Yes	Yes
The Hook, Lady Bay	Rushcliffe Borough Council (Friends Group)	15	LNR	Grass Stream	Yes	Yes
Trentside - Adbolton	Private Ownership (part managed by RBC / Nottingham Sailing Club)	2	ELS	Grass River	Yes	Yes
Upper Saxondale Community Nature Reserve	Upper Saxondale Resident Association	3.2	-	Grass Wood	Yes	Yes
Wilford Claypits	Rushcliffe Borough Council (Notts Wildlife Trust)	4.3	SSSI/ LWS	Pond Marsh Grass Wood Reedbed	Yes	Yes
Wilford Hill Wood	Private	7.8	LWS	Wood	Not known	No
Willoughby Wood		2.5	-	Wood	Yes	Yes
Wilwell Farm Cutting	Rushcliffe Borough Council (Notts Wildlife Trust on 99 year lease)	8	SSSI, LNR	Grass Marsh Wood Reedbed	Yes	Yes
Notified Roadside Verges x 4	Nottinghamshire County Council	-	LWS	Grass	Yes	Yes

 

Designation

• ELS - Entry level stewardship
• LWS - Local Wildlife Sites (previously called SINC - Site of Importance for Nature Conservation)
• LNR - Local Nature Reserve
• SSSI - Site of Special Scientific Interest

Habitats

• Grass - grassland habitat (including species rich)
• Wood - woodland (including scrub)
• Pond, Lake, Stream, River, Reedbed and Marsh as described

Appendix C - Voluntary practical nature conservation work carried out in Rushcliffe

Voluntary practical nature conservation work carried out in Rushcliffe

Site	Estimated Voluntary Work (man hours)
Bingham Linear Park	41
Bridgford Park / Bridge Park	Assumed 120
Bridgford Street Meadow, East B	Assumed 0
Bunny Wood	150+
Collington Common	0
Costock Pond	150
Cotgrave Country Park	970
Gotham Nature Reserve	53.5
Grantham Canal (inc. partners)	Assumed 1,303
Green Line – West Bridgford	68.5
Grizzled Skipper Project (NBAG)	292
Himalayan Balsam Project (NBAG)	0
Holme Pierrepont Country Park	Assumed 0
Keyworth Meadow & Burial Ground	0
Langar Village Pond	Assumed 0
Meadow Covert	Assumed 0
Meadow Park - East Leake	543
Radcliffe Conservation Volunteers	Assumed 256
Rushcliffe Barn Owl Project	Assumed 260
Rushcliffe Country Park	5,051
Saxondale Nature Reserve	Assumed 350
Sharphill Wood	413
Sheldon Field	350
Skylarks	864+
Springdale Wood	97
Stonepit Plantation	Assumed 0
Sutton Bonington Diamond Wood	Assumed 0
Sutton Bonington Meadow and Copse	Assumed 0
The Hook	141
Wilford Clay Pit	408
Willoughby Wood	Assumed 0
Wilwell Cutting	638

Total Hours: 12,496.5

Value for this work based on Volunteering England guidance 2014, equating to £18.69 per hour - £233,560

Please note:

1. These figures do not include educational work such as talks, open days, guided walks etc.
2. These figures are for known work – other unknown projects will have also occurred.
3. These figures are estimates of time volunteered.
4. Total hours for 2015 = 9788

Appendix D - Condition of SSSI’s in Rushcliffe (as assessed by Natural England)

description

SSSI Name	Main habitat	Unit Area (hectares)	Assessment at March 2010	Assessment at March 2017	Assessment at March 2019	Assessment at March 2020
Barnstone Railway Cutting	Calcareous grassland - lowland	1.52	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2006)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2012)	Unfavourable no change (last assessed 2017)	Unfavourable no change (last assessed 2017)
Gotham Hill Pasture	Calcareous grassland - lowland	7.39	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2008)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2015)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2015)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2015)
Gotham Hill Pasture	Calcareous grassland - lowland	1.05	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2008)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2015)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2015)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2015)
Kinoulton Marsh and Canal	Neutral grassland - lowland	1.65	Favourable (last assessed 2009)	Favourable (last assessed 2009)	Favourable (last assessed 2009)	Favourable (last assessed 2009)
Kinoulton Marsh and Canal	Standing open water and canals	0.95	Unfavourable no change (last assessed 2009)	Unfavourable no change (last assessed 2009)	Unfavourable no change (last assessed 2009)	Unfavourable no change (last assessed 2009)
Normanton Pastures	Neutral grassland - lowland	9.51	Unfavourable no change (last assessed 2009)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2014)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2014)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2014)
Normanton Pastures	Neutral grassland - lowland	7.04	Unfavourable no change (last assessed 2005)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2014)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2014)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2014)
Orston Plaster Pits	Neutral grassland - lowland	1.11	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2008)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2010)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2010)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2010)
Orston Plaster Pits	Calcareous grassland - lowland	3.54	Favourable (last assessed 2007)	Favourable (last assessed 2007)	Favourable (last assessed 2007)	Favourable (last assessed 2007)
Orston Plaster Pits	Broadleaved, mixed and yew woodland - lowland	0.51	Favourable (last assessed 2007)	-	-	-
Orston Plaster Pits	Fen, marsh and swamp	0.54	Favourable (last assessed 2007)	-	-	-
Rushcliffe Golf Course	Calcareous grassland - lowland	13.87	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2009)	Unfavourable no change (last assessed 2016)	Unfavourable no change (last assessed 2016)	Unfavourable no change (last assessed 2016)
Rushcliffe Golf Course	Broadleaved, mixed and yew woodland - lowland	5.62	Favourable (last assessed 2009)	Unfavourable no change (last assessed 2016)	Unfavourable no change (last assessed 2016)	Unfavourable no change (last assessed 2016)
Wilford Claypits	Calcareous grassland - lowland	1.42	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2007)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2011)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2011)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2011)
Wilford Claypits	Neutral grassland - lowland	0.68	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2007)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2011)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2011)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2011)
Wilford Claypits	Fen, marsh and swamp	0.08	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2007)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2011)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2011)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2011)
Wilwell Cutting	Broadleaved, mixed and yew woodland - lowland	2.14	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2006)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2015)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2015)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2015)
Wilwell Cutting	Neutral grassland - lowland	4.24	Favourable (last assessed 2006)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2015)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2015)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2015)
Wilwell Cutting	Standing open water and canals	0.97	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2006)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2015)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2015)	Unfavourable recovering (last assessed 2015)
Number of units in favourable condition	-	-	6 out of 19	2 out of 17	2 out of 17	2 out of 17

For further details check Designated Sites - Natural England

Appendix E - Barn Owl Results

description

Year	Number of boxes at start of year (available for breeding)	Number of boxes used for breeding	Breeding totals (no. of young birds ringed)	3 year running average of young
2000	38	2	-	-
2001	62	2	-	-
2002	88	4	16	9
2003	101	9	35	20
2004	112	10	25	25
2005	120	18	58	39
2010	165	29	51	63
2015	160	29	47	82
2016	180	40	106	112
2017	178	50	102	85
2018	180	50	82	97
2019	180	46	126	103

Figures provided by Rushcliffe Barn Owl Project, a project of Nottinghamshire Birdwatchers that aims to conserve and increase the population of barn owls in Rushcliffe and surrounding areas (see Rushcliffe Barn Owls)

Appendix F - Access to Nature

Parishes / WB wards without designated Local Wildlife Sites (LWS) - Aslockton; Hawksworth; Newton; Scarrington, Shelton; Sibthorpe; Thoroton and Tollerton

Parishes with publicly accessible nature reserves or public open space managed for wildlife

Parish	Accessible Natural Green Space
Bingham	Bingham Linear Park
Bunny	Bunny Old Wood
Car Colston	Large Green
Costock	Costock Pond
Cotgrave	Cotgrave Country Park and Grantham Canal
Cropwell Bishop	Grantham Canal
Cropwell Butler	Grantham Canal, Sheldon Field
East Bridgford	Springdale Wood
East Leake	Meadow Park and Manor Farm Animal Sanctuary
Gamston	Grantham Canal
Hickling	Grantham Canal
Holme Pierrepont and Gamston	Holme Pierrepont Country Park, Grantham Canal, Skylarks, Trentside and Pinders Pond
Keyworth	Keyworth Meadow Nature Reserve, Keyworth Burial Ground
Kinoulton	Grantham Canal
Langar cum Barnstone	Naturescape, Langar Village Pond
Orston	Orston Millennium Green
Owthorpe	Fishpond Wood and Grantham Canal
Radcliffe-on-Trent	Dewberry Hill, The Lilly Ponds, The Cliff Top Walk
Rempstone	Open Space
Ruddington	Rushcliffe Country Park
Saxondale	Upper Saxondale Community Nature Reserve
Sutton Bonington	Sutton Bonington Coppice and Meadow, Sutton Bonington Diamond Woods
Whatton in the Vale	Queens Wood, Whatton
Willoughby-on-the-Wolds	Willoughby Wood
West Bridgford Wards	-
Compton Acres	Gresham Marsh, Greythorne Dyke, Lyme Park, Trentside, Compton Acres open space, Wilford Claypits
Edwalton	Sharphill Wood
Gamston South	Grantham Canal
Ladybay	The Hook and Grantham Canal
Lutterell	Wilford Cemetery
Musters	The Green Line
Trent Bridge	Grantham Canal

Out of 56 parishes and 8 West Bridgford wards, 34 have accessible natural green space (including all West Bridgford wards).

 

Appendix G - Progress report for the Nature Conservation Strategy 2021 - 2025

Progress report for the Nature Conservation Strategy 2021 - 2025

Actions	Activity During 2018	Status
1a. Using the Focal Areas to target action for landscape scale nature conservation projects	Cotgrave Wood Focal Area has continued to be surveyed and public walks held to showcase the woodland. A Small Woodland Owners Group (SWOG) local area meeting at Cotgrave Forest was supported by NWT. Wetland projects work was carried out at The Hook during early 2018.	In progress
1b. Seek opportunities for creating at least one large area for wildlife	Skylarks Nature Reserve continues to be developed by NWT. The development of Sharphill Wood / Community Park was delayed and is now expected to begin in 2019.	In progress
1c. Identify and liaise with organisations	The RNCSIG has continued to be represented on the Grantham Canal Partnership Environmental Sub-group and Notts BAG. Highways England have carried out assessments of potential enhancement sites along the A46, and unsuccessfully applied for funding to implement works.	In progress
2a. Ensuring that all nature reserves have a current Management Plans	Manage	In progress
2b. Resourcing Nature Reserves	Seven applications to the Rushcliffe Biodiversity Support grant were paid during 2018/19, to six organisations, totalling a value of £3,287.43. Volunteering continues to be promoted, particularly via NWT Skylarks Nature Reserve and NWT South Notts Local Group programme, the Friends of Rushcliffe Country Park newsletter and social media produced by ‘friends of’ groups RBC, NBAG and NWT. The Nature Conservation Forum was held at East Bridgford on the theme of Trees.	In progress
2c. Encouraging local community involvement	A series of 32 public activities were held by NWT across the borough, including at major council events. Education activity provided by partners has included 16 activity sessions run by NWT, with 5 schools, engaging with 186 children. Wildlife Watch continues to run at Rushcliffe Country Park and Forest Schools operate in Sharphill Wood, Edwalton; Meadow Covert, Edwalton and Meadow Park, East Leake, other private forest schools also operate in the Rushcliffe area.	In progress
2d. Make nature reserves bigger, better and more connected	NWT has continued to develop the Skylarks nature reserve Partners have continued to liaise with developers and planners on the proposed Edwalton Community Park. Partners continue to support the Grantham Canal Environmental Sub Group	In progress
3a. Promoting the sympathetic protection and management of Local Wildlife Sites (LWS)	No action taken during 2018.	Not started
3b. Develop sympathetic farming management practices and agri-environment schemes	Advice was delivered to 3 external landowners	In progress
3c. Encouraging wildlife friendly management of grounds	Partners continue to support the Grantham Canal Environmental Sub Group NBAG have continued to work with Great Central Railway through the Grizzled Skipper project. The partnership helped provided a woodland training course at Cotgrave Forest NWT have provided advice too 4 organisations and 2 individuals	In progress
3d. Supporting programs for  Nottinghamshire Biodiversity Action Plan species and habitats	Funding has supported Local Biodivesity Action Plan (LBAP) target habitats (see Appendix A)	In progress
3e. Promoting the management and designation of Notified Road verges	No action taken during 2018	Not started
4a. Supporting the work of the Records Centre and the Local Wildlife Sites survey	Partners continue to support this work through membership of the Nottinghamshire Ecological and Geological Data Partnership (NEGDP) and its sub committees.	In progress
4b. Support species survey programmes and local initiatives to record wildlife	Survey work was carried out by member groups in 2018, but no cross-organisation surveys were completed.	In progress
4c. Support Notts BAG and reporting against LBAP targets	Funding has supported LBAP target habitats (see Appendix A)	In progress
5a. Promote the work of local nature groups and issues	The NWT continues to support local groups through the SLA. Groups and local issues are promoted via the Facebook page and other media outlets. Training has been provided on reptile and amphibian for 3 local groups The Nature Conservation Forum was held at East Bridgford on the theme of Trees	In progress
5b. Extending wildlife education opportunities	Education activity provided by partners has included 8 activity sessions run by NWT, with 4 schools, engaging with 186 children, plus activities run for 30 Cub Scouts. Wildlife Watch continues to run at Rushcliffe Country Park and Forest Schools operate in Sharphill Wood, Edwalton; Meadow Covert, Edwalton and Meadow Park, East Leake, other private forest schools also operate in the Rushcliffe area.	In progress
5c. Promoting contacts amongst groups and organisations	The partnership operates Facebook and Twitter feeds, sharing feeds from local groups and organisations.	In progress
5d. Promoting access to wildlife and countryside	Access continues to be promoted through the network of publicly accessible nature reserves managed by partners, events and activities (see 2c above) run by partners.	In progress
6a. Ensure that local planning policies relate to the NPPF mitigation hierarchy	RNCSIG and Partners have contributed to consultations on the development of planning policy in Rushcliffe during 2018. Partners have commented on planning applications in 2018.	In progress
6b. Ensuring new BGI benefits people and wildlife and meets NE and WT guidelines	Partners have contributed to consultations on the development of planning policy in Rushcliffe during 2018. Partners have commented on planning applications in 2017.	In progress
6c. Use Hedgerow Regulations and TPOs to help protect important features	Currently there are 277 Tree Preservation Orders (covering from individual trees to groups of trees and woodlands, so much more than 277 trees are covered by TPOs). This has increased from 261 in 2015	In progress
6d. Reduce pollution; seek good ecological status for rivers; and mitigate and adapt to climate change	No action taken during 2018	Not started
6e. Seeking to influence Regional, National and European decision making	Responses made by RNCSIG to national consultations on farming and planning	In progress
6f. Promoting the use of native local provenance planting	No action taken during 2018	Not started
7a. Continue support for the RNCSIG	Membership of the partnership remains constant, with partners contributing to the strategy and actions. An SLA between RBC and NWT continues. Financial support continues to be provided by RBC	In progress
7b. Produce an annual report	The report for 2018 has been published	Not started
7c. Developing and Implement a marketing/ communications plan	A marketing plan was developed in 2016	Complete
7d. Reviewing the strategy during 2025, or sooner	To be reviewed in 2020	Not started

 

Appendix H - Nature Conservation Projects and Activities in Rushcliffe

Ongoing Activities (of which we are aware) (27) (items in bold pre date start of the Nature Conservation Strategy in 2003). See also the list of current sites in Appendix B

Wildlife Projects (16)

• Badger edge vaccination scheme –BEVS (NWT)
• Cotgrave Focal Area (RNCSIG)
• Blue Butterfly Scheme (NWT)
• Bird Bed & Breakfast Scheme (NWT)
• Cotgrave Community Orchard and Wildflower Meadow (CTC)
• Grantham Canal Azolla Control (CRT (previously BW) / NBAG / NE)
• Grizzled Skipper Project (NCC / Butterfly Conservation / NBAG)
• Himalayan Balsam Project (NBAG)
• Radcliffe on Trent Conservation Volunteers (RoT PC / Vols)
• River Soar Floating Pennywort Control (EA / CRT)
• Rushcliffe Barn Owl Project (SNB)
• Silver Seal Mine management (NCC / NWT +)
• South Notts Bird Ringers – SNB (Vols)
• Swift & Swallow Project (Vols)
• Trentside Fields, Adboulton, riverside management (RBC / NWT, Trent Sailing Club / FroTH)
• ‘Wetland for All’ project (NWT)

Wildlife Activities (11)

• Cotgrave U3A Birdwatching Group (Vols)
• Forest Schools at Sharphill Wood and Meadow Park, East Leake (Vols / Nurseries / Schools)
• Grantham Canal Environmental Sub Group (CRT / Grantham Canal Partnership)
• Rushcliffe Nature Conservation Forum (RNCSIG)
• Rushcliffe Wildlife Watch Group (Vols/NWT)
• Rushcliffe Wildlife Web Site (Vols)
• School Wildlife Education Visits (NWT)
• Soar Valley U3A Nature & Bird Groups (Vols)
• South Notts Local Group (Walks, talks, summer fetes, web site etc.) (Vols/NWT)
• West Bridgford U3A Bird Group (Vols)
• Wildlife Training Programme (RNCSIG)

Appendix I - Biodiversity Opportunity Mapping Project

The Biodiversity Opportunity Mapping exercise (completed in 2015) covered the whole of the Borough; it highlighted the important wildlife sites in Rushcliffe and identified potential opportunities for biodiversity improvements. This looked at our local grassland,
woodland and wetland habitats in terms of opportunities for making them Better, Bigger and more Connected.

The map shows that there are areas where existing habitats and associated opportunities are concentrated, in these areas there are substantial opportunities in both the short and long term to enhance and expand these habitats, to buffer them and to link them up to create a stronger habitat network across the landscape. 

These Focal Areas are shown on the enclosed map:

• Cotgrave Forest
• East Leake and Stanford Hall
• Fairham
• Gotham Hills, West Leake and Bunny Ridge Line
• Smite
• Soar
• South Rushcliffe Pondscape
• Trent Lady Bay to Stoke Bardolph
• Trent Wilford to Thrumpton

With thanks to everyone who has helped compile the data for this report, especially Gordon Dyne (NWT Southern Member Group) and Ben Driver (Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust).

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South Notts Wildlife

Nottinghamshire Wildlife