We had another session on the Town Trail a couple of weeks ago. You'll see from the photos, that we were joined by a robin again. We sometimes think the birds are watching out for us so that they can forage in the earth we've disturbed.
We've had a couple of
comments expressing concern about the nesting season. We stopped working in the
area between Woodleigh Road and Bridge Street for this reason.
In the area down from the station, we are mainly clearing excess ivy off the ground. There are no ground nesting birds in the area where we are working - which is mainly a strip either side of the path. This is a good area to encourage woodland edge plants which would increase the biodiversity. We will not be clearing the whole area as it is important to leave some ivy and a diversity of habitats. Whilst we are doing this, we also clear a lot of litter.
As you may know, the Trail is owned by Herefordshire Council. We operate under a Licence to Cultivate granted to the Town Council. The work we do is part of a maintenance plan agreed with both councils. We also take advice from ecologists and environmentalists. We have carried out one review with Herefordshire Council/Balfour Beatty since we started work in October last year and plan to do another one during the autumn/winter.
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