Comberton Parish Council are running an online survey about the recreation facilities that the village should plan to have in the future.
The Parish Council is extending the deadline to submit a response to the Recreation Facilities Survey to 31st January 2023. The more responses we receive, the stronger our applications for funding will be. Note that we accept one response per resident. Groups are invited to email a letter to the clerk ( @ ). If you have any questions, or if you would like to help, please contact the clerk. Many thanks
The online survey is here, it closes on 31st January 2023.
CPC needs more responses from the old age groups, and teenagers to reflect better our village demographics!!
As of late November 2022 our Village Pond has recovered well as the ground water level has risen through the gravel beds (click image for bigger picture)
Below is what it looked like ten years ago, before many of the invasive plants were ‘donated’.
People hope to see a floating island added to act as a sanctuary for breeding moorhens etc
Pictures of the works were added as the project evolved – last updated 24th November 2022
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Two pictures show that the coir matting laid over the earthworks up’hill’ of the boundary have now been covered and some plants are already growing up through it !
The outfall from the field drain hasn’t yet shown any flow in the recent days of rain but the one from the Green End gulley has, but unfortunately has washed some of the seeds away. I have added a splash area of stones to disperse it a bite, hopefully.
The Ducks have returned for their daily bath at 7am (I am told) and now the planting is greening after the arid summer…
Planting for Coir Rolls
AGA’s native wetland plants are selected for their adaptation to varied physical conditions and also provide excellent cover for invertebrates, fish and other animals. All the rolls are planted at their Merton Hall Ponds nursery using mature bare roots (MBR).
They plant the coir rolls with 6 plants per metre – a mix of four from:
AGA will return in late autumn or the spring to plant further plants in better conditions than this summer !
PLEASE Do NOT put ANY plants or fish into the pond !
Re-introduction of appropriate plants is being done slowly and systematically by CPC’s Pond Working Group to encourage bio-diversity and to stop non-native and invasive species causing the pond to revert to its poor state in 2021.
Work on the village pond started on Monday 25th July and was expected to last three weeks. During that timeframe the area around the village pond was inaccessible, protected by fencing. Residents should take care around the site, particularly when contractor vehicles are moving around the site. They will be removing the island, dredging the silt, deepening the pond, removing the plants, repairing the brick work and then adding plants at the end of the project. It is not being re-lined.
This work has been funded by a £10k grant from the The National Lottery Community Fund (championed by Claire Coulson and the CPC Pond Working Group) and two pre-allocated budget amounts from last years and this years CPC budgets (i.e. from residents precept).
County Wildlife Site status for local farmland threatened by East West Rail
Farmland in Comberton, currently under threat from East West Rail’s proposed railway line, has been granted County Wildlife Site status.
This farmland, on west side of Royston Lane south of St Mary’s Church – known as Westfield, forms part of the 400-acre Lark Rise Farm, located near the villages of Barton and Comberton.
It is owned by the Countryside Regeneration Trust (CRT), a national charity committed to nature-friendly farming practices and also based in Comberton.
The site’s new status follows a rigorous review by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Local Sites Panel with input from the Wildlife Trust, the county and district councils and other environmental organisations. The recognition highlights the area’s ecological importance within the county.
Dr Lucy Wilson, conservation officer for the Wildlife Trust (cambs), said:
Westfield Farm has been selected as a County Wildlife Site by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Local Sites Panel for its assemblage of arable plants, one of our most threatened groups of plants due to modern, efficient farming practices.
The CRT manage the site of four fields under a regime of low-input, rotational cultivation which has allowed the arable plants to flourish alongside the crops.
A total of 14 arable plant species of local or national significance have been recorded on the site including Night-flowering Catchfly Silene noctiflora, Shepherd’s-needle Scandix pecten-veneris and Spreading Hedge-parsley Torilis arvensis, which are all threatened with extinction both locally and nationally.
“This arable plant assemblage underpins an ecosystem which includes threatened farmland birds which breed on the site such as Grey Partridge Perdix perdix and Corn Bunting Emberiza calandra. County Wildlife Sites are some of our remaining refuges for vulnerable wildlife and need protecting so that they can act as centres of dispersal as our countryside recovers, added Lucy.
Dr. Vince Lea, Conservation Officer for CRT, expressed hope that the new status would prompt East West Rail to reconsider its proposed route, which threatens this vital land.
He stated:
This recognition is a testament to the value of the land and the work we’ve been doing for over 25 years to nurture it for wildlife. I hope this will encourage East West Rail to reassess their plans. Their surveys have overlooked the ecological value of these arable fields, a clear flaw in their approach.
Dr. Lea also revealed that the next step is to nominate the site for consideration as a nationally significant site, following recommendations from conservationists. With a score of 55 from records dating back to 2006, the site qualifies as being of national importance.
County Wildlife Sites are the most significant areas of semi-natural habitat outside statutory protected sites, such as
Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSIs) and
Special Areas of Conservation (SACs).
Tim Scott, who farms Lark Rise, said the recognition was very rewarding and as the result of 25-years of hard work and dedication at Westfield.
He said: I hope that EWR will recognise arable biodiversity as endangered and accept this is a site of county significance and more and it is irreplaceable. With our Red-List revival, we are in the top one per cent in the country. This cannot be replicated.
