Nature reserve opening is ‘progress through partnership’

More than 40 people representing community groups, conservation bodies and local government attended the official opening of the Tice’s Meadow nature reserve at Badshot Lea near Farnham in Surrey.

Farnham town mayor Mike Hodge cut the ribbon to open the 55-hectare reserve which has been created from the restored Farnham sand and gravel quarry. The event coincided with the Tice’s Meadow management committee’s “Bioblitz” weekend involving local wildlife groups, schoolchildren and volunteers carrying out a nature survey to gain a picture of the species colonising the site.

The quarry opened in the mid-90s and was worked out by 2010. Since then, a great deal of work has been done to restore it to a community nature reserve. The missing links were two footbridges over the river Blackwater which are now in place and effectively complete the restoration phase.

Chief executive Daniel Cooper, who attended the opening, said: “This is an important day for Heidelberg Materials and for nature conservation. It demonstrates the enormous benefits that can be derived from working together and the value that responsible mineral extraction can bring, both to the built environment through our products and to biodiversity and nature conservation through what we can create and leave behind.

“It really has been a fantastic example of progress through partnership and I would like to thank everyone involved, particularly the volunteer groups, for the tremendous work they have done, and also Heidelberg Materials staff past and present who have been involved with this project over the years and worked so hard to develop and implement the plans.”

Principal landscape manager Andy Duncan, who has overseen the restoration and aftercare phase, said: “This site is a terrific example of what can be achieved by being responsive to circumstances, rather than blindly following the plans. The original concept was to restore back to agriculture but, as things progressed, both Heidelberg Materials and the county council planners began to see the benefits of a nature conservation-focused restoration plan.”