On 9th June John Hall, Chief Executive Officer and I were absolutely thrilled that Thurrock Thameside nature park won the Observer Ethical Award.  This was a wonderful achievement for Essex Wildlife Trust.  Anne Watkinson, Trustee nominated the park after visiting it and experiencing the exciting project for herself.  The nature park was also featured in the Observer magazine with a two page spread!

 

Progress at Mucking Landfill site is going very well.  Since December 2010 land-filling has ceased and Cory’s restoration programme on site is now a major operation. Although the restoration of the site is going to take longer than initially planned, mainly due to obtaining the right soils, as demand is high, the visitor centre is due to open Spring 2012.  The North Easterly part of the site will be open to the public and will offer spectacular views across the Thames Estuary towards Kent and Southend.  A new road leading to the centre has been built and a series of footpaths are planned so that they will be available for visitors to enjoy in the Spring.

 

The Visitor Centre is a spectacular round building being built strategically along the Thames Estuary depicting

 a MartelloTower or a prehistoric broch.  The building, although one storey, will have access to the roof via a low-gradient ramp, inside the building. This is a very unusual build. The observation room will afford views over the Estuary and an education room will provide facilities for local schools, families, and the community.

The visitor centre itself is starting to take shape with foundations and walls already installed.  The re-bar (metal poles) indicate in the picture how tall the building will stand as this shows where the floor will start from. Building a centre with all the required facilities such as water and electricity has proved to be a challenge on a landfill site. Pictures below show the progress of the visitor centre.  
 A bird hide has been purchased with Parklands funding and the foundations installed ready for erection, so that when the visitor centre is available an all-purpose path will lead to a large bird hide overlooking the Thames Estuary mudflats, which is internationally important for migrating birds.

 

In addition, there will be a further Education Centre which will be based near Crown Cottage and the workshops/storage areas.  This will provide additional facilities and will be available for hire.  

 

At present there is no suitable water body near to the Education Centre for pond dipping classes, but Essex Wildlife Trust is working with a number of partners and funders to provide a sustainable drainage system that will filter into the nearby Creek.  The current pond near to the Education Centre is very steep and already houses Great Crested Newts, which are a protected species.  This pond currently over-flows with the winter rains and a drainage system is required.  It is thought that these overflowing waters can provide the water for a series of inter-connecting ponds near to the Education Centre, thus providing habitat, educational facilities, additional reedbeds and drainage.   This will be a complex project involving engineers, the Environment Agency. Darren Tansley, Water for Wildlife Officer thinks it would be great to attract Water Voles. There are a number of water bodies and ditch systems on site providing different habitats and as the site is so big we can improve upon these and where there is a need create additional habitat.

 

Towards the South Westerly part of the site there are two lakes which will provide a wonderful setting for families and walkers to visit and enjoy.  Early indications are that the lakes support a vibrant bird population including Cettis Warblers and Kingfishers.  It also holds a full range of Dragonflies and Damselflies.  The adjacent mud flats will soon be filling up with migrant and wintering waders such as Ringed Plover, Dunlin, Black-tailed and Bar-tailed Godwit.

 

Essex Wildlife Trust have agreed a ‘phased lease approach’ with the current owners, Cory Environmental Ltd, so that the public can have access to the site as soon as it is available.  This has meant that Essex Wildlife Trust and Cory Environmental Ltd have been working closely together to achieve this goal.  The North Easterly side of the site will be the first to be made available and negotiations for the south side are already underway.

 

This large and wonderful oasis for people and wildlife still holds many surprises as we explore the rich wildlife heritage.