Bourneley Meadow is a small plot of land which borders a housing estate. Like most suburban patches of nature, it is barely big enough to provide the quiet spaces that wildlife needs to feed, rest and breed. During the lockdown periods of the pandemic 2020-2021, before we owned the land, an increasing number of people started wandering over the flood bank. They were exercising, playing games, smoking, eating, having a drink or walking dogs. We observed birds such as reed buntings, white throats and sedge warblers moving away from the territories they had claimed near the bank and the barn owl did not nest in the Owl Oak in 2021. In addition, the environment agency has told us repeatedly “You must not damage the bank” and explained that this includes the grass cover. Walkers were starting to wear a path on the bank and sliding down the bank in mud and snow does this even faster. Because of these reasons, we took the difficult decision to close the bank to the public.
In October 2021, we put up a new fence along Brook End and installed a sign a couple of weeks later. Most people reacted positively to the new fence and appreciated our efforts at landscaping and tidying the area between the road and the bank. We removed countless soft drink cans and at least 60 small vodka bottles. We were very sorry to have to disappoint some children keen to play on the bank (especially on a snowy day, when it looked particularly good for sledging). However, we hope that they eventually come to see the benefit of reserving space for nature.
We do want to keep a good relationship with our neighbours and hope eventually to be able to show local people around on designated open days. Unfortunately, health & safety and insurance make such events much more complicated than they should be…
