Oversee the development and provide the ongoing management and monitoring of a newly created 20ha nature reserve on a partly restored sand quarry.

In 2016 we were commissioned by Tarmac to develop a vision document for the management of Crown Farm Quarry for the benefit of wildlife. The vision included a current description of the site, our aspirational outcomes and an overview of the investment required to realise the site’s potential.

The 20 ha site is located within the wider Delamere character area, a gently undulating post-glacial landscape of woodland, farmland and heathland which together once formed the ancient forest of Mara and Mondrem.

Drawing on Cheshire West and Chester’s nature conservation priorities and working alongside Tarmac we were able to develop a vision and an associated adaptive management plan and monitoring program that respects the landscape character value of the wider Delamere area.

Work towards realising this vision commenced in October 2016, with the Trust’s operational team undertaking a series of repeatable baseline surveys for a range of habitats and taxa. Alongside this the team devised and started to deliver a work programme (reviewed on a biennial basis with the client) to deliver the habitat creation, restoration and management work required to achieve the outcomes set out in the vision. The work aimed to create a restored, intact, high-value landscape rich in wildlife by managing the mosaic of priority habitats that exist on site. This included steep, flower rich banks which support a rich diversity of pollinators such as solitary bees and specialist grassland butterflies, standing open water, which attracts an unusually high number of sand martins that congregate to to feed on insects before returning to their nests in the quarry, reedbeds where wetland plants such as gypsywort, sedges and rushes thrive and dragonflies and other wetland invertebrates are regularly recorded.

Working closely with the Quarry Manager and Restoration Manager from Tarmac, the team have successfully worked to an adaptive management plan and biennially agreed budget to implement a range of habitat creation, restoration and management techniques to ensure the nature conservation value of the site can be maximised. Through quarterly meetings with the client the team have been able to identify and overcome any issues that have arisen from managing a nature reserve that sits within the boundary of a working quarry.

20ha of habitat including woodland, scrub, wildflower rich grassland, reedbed, open water and semi-improved grassland/ heathland mosaic managed and monitored in line with an adaptive management plan

3ha of scrub habitat created for the benefit of breeding birds.