New local nature reserves planned for the borough
Two brand new local nature reserves are set to be proposed in Telford & Wrekin as the council aims to have the equivalent of 1,050 football pitches covered by the special protected status.
Background papers on the plans have now been published by the borough council following an announcement made last month by cabinet member Councillor Carolyn Healy.
The plans involve creating a bigger local nature reserve (LNR) which follows the route of the canal in Newport.
Overall the Newport site combines several existing protected sites including Newport Canal Site of Scientific Special Interest, Strine Brook Park, Victoria Park and parts of Norbroom Park.
Officials are also planning to create a 26.7 hectare LNR to cover the Hurleybrook area of Hadley and Leegomery.
Officials have also taken a fresh look at the boundaries for LNRs announced in 2022.
These will be at nearly…
- 40 hectares at Priorslee Flash,
- 11.5 hectares at Redhill Ecology Park, in St Georges,
- 15.3 hectares at Snedshill & Albion Hill,
- 22.7 hectares at Kemberton Meadows and Pitmounds, at Madeley and Sutton Hill and
- 14.5 hectares at Holmer Lake and Madebrook Pools, at The Nedge.
Council officials write that if the plans are approved by Natural England the borough will have more than four times the minimum recommended standard of LNRs.
They say that LNRs benefit the health and wellbeing of residents, help tackle climate change, biodiversity loss, and have millions of pounds of “welfare value.”
“Visitor modelling in 2025 identified that the borough’s existing 20 Local Nature Reserves receive approximately 4.12 million visits a year,” write officials in their report to next Thursday’s cabinet.
“The derived welfare value provided by those visits can be valued at approximately £14.7 million a year.
“Of the 4.12 million visits per year approximately 2.5 million visits are made via active travel and 1.1 million visits are made by individuals who have never visited the LNRs before.”
The designations would protect the sites from development and mean that the borough would have 27 LNRs.
