Thursday, March 13, 2008

Cromwell Bottom

Thanks to Paul Talbot for his response to my previous posting.
For anyone not familiar with the Elland Gravel Pits ( Cromwell Bottom ) the area being destroyed by so called conservation workers, is the habitat surrounding the shallow pools. From a Calderdale perspective it has previously held the territories of important bird species:- Garden Warbler (possibly 50% of all the territories in Calderdale), Common Whitethroat, Blackcap, Willow Warbler, Chiffchaff, Song Thrush, Reed Bunting, Bullfinch and severely other common species.
When I last visited ten days ago I was sickened and appalled at the mindless unsympathetic destruction to this locally important habitat.
The work being undertaking is to create a path in places two metres wide around the pools, presumably for disabled access. A mechanical digger has been used to cut through the substrate and large areas of bramble up to fifteen metres wide in places, has been cleared.
I recently visited Blacktoft Sands RSPB reserve where paths presumably allowing full disabled access to the hides on the reserve. These paths are perhaps a little over one metre wide and appear to have been created with the minimum amount of destruction to the surrounding habitat.
The other important issue is the timing of this work. It is now mid march and many of the resident birds are by now holding breeding territory and the return of spring migrants is imminent. Additionally amphibians commuting to and fro from the pools are active.
I intend to call for a meeting of the Conservation Committee as soon as possible and propose that the committee withdraws all cooperation with Calderdale Countryside Unit on all matters, in protest to the lack of prior consultation, damage caused by and the timing of the above work.
I suggest anyone who feels passionate about conserving local habitat go down and see the destruction for yourself.
What is the point of designating a site a local nature reserve if management work there damages the nature there and decreases the bio diversity ?

1 comment:

Nick Dawtrey said...

it looks a right mess