THE Wiltshire Wildlife Trust has been given a boost in their pursuit to clean up and enhance the Bitham Brook area after the Westbury Area Board, part of Wiltshire Council, gave them £1,870 in grant funding.
The money will be used to enhance the ecology and biodiversity of the Brook by improving its water quality. This is the second phase of improvements and will focus on The Mead Park as it overshadows the brook.
The first phase focussed on regrading the river bank, preventing erosion and creating an area on the riverbank for dogs.
Local Wiltshire councillor Carole King said “Phase two refers to The Mead Park, which is on the other side of The Mead from the residential estates, where the Bitham Brook paths are. There is still some work to be done on this side, closer to The Mead, which involves the removal of an invasive species, but this will have to wait till late spring/early summer depending on its growth. And further scrub and vegetation management will hopefully take place in late winter/early spring. I imagine the storms have delayed the start of this, but hopefully for not much longer.
“The Mead Park area of the Bitham Brook needs extensive tree and scrub management as they overshadow the brook. Again, this should start before the bird breeding season, so hopefully soon.
“The Wiltshire Wildlife Trust are organising this project with the financial help of the Area Board”, Carole added. “Westbury Town Council contributed to the first phase and it is hoped they will do the same in phase 2. The money is needed for staff project management time, contractor costs (tree removal), mileage and volunteer subsistence costs. Each item that needs funding is in hundreds of pounds per day, but altogether, the project will make such a difference to the Bitham Brook/Mead areas, which will really enhance the enjoyment of all members of the community.
“But crucially, this project will enhance the ecology and biodiversity of the Brook by improving its water quality. The removal of the overgrowth in phase one has already shown an improvement in the light entering the brook, which in turn encourages the growth of a better range of plants. It’s hoped that all this will encourage marginal species to make use of the brook and its surrounds, namely the water vole population.
“The In-Kind Volunteer Time is substantial, and they are always on the look-out for more volunteers to help on the days they are doing the work. I believe the Project Officer, Connor Stapleton Goddard, is still looking for someone to organise and drive a ‘Friends of’ Group. I hope someone can feel able to do this from the community and would urge anyone who wishes to volunteer for any aspect of this project to contact him at ConnerG@wiltshirewildlife.org.”
