Spring is in the air (“boing”, said Zebedee) so it’s time to get our tree planting finished (at Sprowston, Hingham and Horsford, where ‘urricanes ‘ardly ever ‘appen) and then we move on to pastures new. Well, strictly speaking it’s meadows new as we will be planting new wildflower meadows* at two sites in central Norwich. We will also move from cutting willow at East Ruston to teasing out little gorse seedlings from the young heather. There’s also a new woodland path to make, the first steps towards an exciting new network linking miles of little open spaces into an exciting green corridor for everyone to enjoy exploring.
And before you know it, it will be Easter, after which tasks will resume again, so that you can burn off all those extra calories from crème eggs.
PS: Incredibly geeky point, but officially a pasture is grazed, whereas a meadow is cut for hay. You learn something new every day, even if you don’t want to!
The new residents currently moving in to properties of the McCarthy Stone phase 2 development on Bluebell Road could expect to have the benefit of a landscaped Green Open Space along the whole length of the southwest edge of the McCarthy Stone site. The Green Open Space would have included meadowland, a pond, and groups of planted parkland trees. Paths would have passed through the green space to link the new estate with the Strawberry Field and to the paths down to the river and the Yare Valley Walk. The plans are here.
A view to parkland trees and wildflower meadows?A surfaced path should continue to meadowland and the river
The creation of this landscaped Green Open Space is important. UK biodiversity is in serious decline and the green space is intended to compensate, in part, for the biodiversity loss resulting from the built part of the development. It is also important to meet the needs of a growing number of residents in close proximity to the Yare Valley. Pressure of use on the existing green space threatens to be unsustainable. Any additional green open space in the Yare Valley would help ease the pressure of public use on other parts of the Valley.
A green open space?Site of footpath link to Strawberry Field
The Yare Valley Society submitted a detailed report with photographs to Norwich Planning Authority on the present situation.
The Authority acted swiftly. It contacted the developers and a timescale has emerged for when the work can be expected to be done. It reports:
“[The contractors] have been trying to complete the footpath works along the river … though this has been held up by flooding and that they are also needing to undo damage caused by the flooding. They plan to move onto the Open Space land … once the riverbank works are done though they may start sooner if those works can’t as yet be completed. They think they have 5 days work left on the riverbank and that the Open Space works will take about 2 to 3 weeks. They are hoping the Open Space works should be complete by the end of March.”
The Society will closely monitor progress, both on the landscaping, and also on other environmental benefits that were promised when the development was approved.
Fallen trees have blocked two of the paths from Bluebell Road to the riverside path. One path is via the Strawberry Field and the other alongside the Cringleford Flyover embankment. YVS enquired with the Norwich Fringe as to the landowners who might be responsible for clearing the blockages. Following the enquiry, the NFP contacted the landowner directly, and the landowner has undertaken to clear the blockage on the path from the Strawberry Field to the river.
Highway tree. Photo: Rachel Hore
It is possible to find a way round the Strawberry Field path, but the other path is blocked for all but the most intrepid. The situation is a little less straightforward for this path because the blocking tree has fallen from the highway’s embankment, and so the Norfolk County Council’s Highways Authority is responsible for clearing it. The landowner is reporting the blockage to the Authority. Hopefully the Authority will also reinstate the fence.
