Friday 15th March, 2024
Ferry Marsh in Wivenhoe looks set to have a controlled system of managing the water levels.
This recommendation has been put forward for the Environment and Sustainability Panel at Colchester City Council to consider when it next meets at the Town Hall on 21st March.
Ferry Marsh is part of the Colne Local Nature Reserve. It is managed by the City Council.
The decision to encourage more wildlife on the site is a consequence of private sector liquidation and the intervention of Mother Nature.
In 2018 a sluice on the Marsh became blocked. This led to the water levels rising. Public access became restricted with much of the Marsh under water.
The sluice was originally installed by the Environment Agency. A replacement was installed by a developer as part of the Ferry Marsh development. The developer entered liquidation and so wasn’t around to unblock the sluice.
Enter Mother Nature and rising water levels.
Although access became restricted for residents, new incomers did take to the site.
The Environment and Sustainability Panel report includes detailed observations documenting new forms of wildlife that were able to flourish with the changing landscape.
Having declared a Climate Emergency, the challenge for the City Council was to maintain this new eco system, but also not to piss off the public who still wanted access.
As ever with local politics, a compromise has been sought:
“In partnership with Natural England, Essex Wildlife Trust and Wivenhoe Town Council, the Council would like to introduce a system to control the water levels to an acceptable level that encourages the new wildlife to flourish, whilst minimising the disruption to existing wildlife and still enabling the Rangers and Volunteers to maintain the site as per the management plan.”
The recommendation is to install a new internal water control system. The exact details aren’t specified in the report.
It is claimed that this will allow Rangers to regulate the water levels. There is also talk of creating a loop that will allow residents to access a small section of the reedbed.
A consultation took place in the lead up to this report. Over 70% of the respondents supported protecting the biodiversity of the site through modified access to the Marsh.
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