Flood meadow restoration begins at city park

Ham Mere is part of the country park at Ferry Meadows and has become overgrown over the years

Work has begun on a project to restore a flood meadow at a 2,500 acre (1,011ha) city country park.

Nene Park Trust has been awarded more than £64,000 for the work, which it is hoped will boost biodiversity at an overgrown site at Ferry Meadows, Peterborough.

Fundraising officer Louise Roe said: "Over the years, Ham Fen has been taken over by willow and birch and we're using the funds to cut that back to create a wetland."

It is one of six projects across the county funded by the Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority through its opportunity fund.

Nene Park Trust's Louise Roe said once the land is restored, it will increase natural water retention, boost biodiversity and improve public access

"We have a bird hide on the nature site, but it has been overtaken by willow and birch," said Ms Roe.

"The wood has been chopped up and will be used to create embankments to channel the water where we need it to go."

Ham Fen already attracts wildfowl, including herons, but the trust hopes that once the wetland is created they will see an increase in animals such as otters and water voles and rare wetland birds.

Ms Roe said: "We've heard of bitterns, which are obviously very, very rare, flying over once in a blue moon, so it would be nice to think this might be a site they might want to stay in and breed in - or just visit."

Gary Gray says the plans are great for wildlife, describing the park as a great resource for people

Frequent Ferry Meadow visitor Gary Gray welcomed the extra funding for the park.

"It's a great resource for local people, it's a nice pace to visit and bring your kids and get some exercise - and great for wildlife, he said.

"I cycle round here quite often and quite frankly, without it I'd struggle to go somewhere that's safe and off-road."

And Gavin Ward welcomed the investment to a park he enjoyed as a child and now takes his own children to

Gavin Ward from Yaxley first visited the country park with his parents and grandparents as a toddler and now brings his own children.

He said: "It's lovely to come back and actually come back to a bigger and better Nene Park every year.

"They've got lots of water sports here and to see all the wildlife, so it's really nice it's getting some investment over the generations."

Willow and birch trees have been removed from Ham Fen and will be used to make barriers to channel water

Other projects which received Cambridgeshire and Peterborough Combined Authority funding were:

• £116,670 to install five tilting weirs, enabling restoration of degraded peatland on Wildlife Trust land

• £95,762 to improve water management systems and enhance biodiversity at Wysing Arts Centre at Bourn, near Cambridge

• £148,500 so the community sports centre at Burwell, near Ely, can upgrade its energy efficiency with solar panels, insulation and heat pumps

• £130,000 so Buckden Recreation Ground and Village Hall Trust, near Huntingdon, can install rainwater management systems and green walls

• £110,000 to develop composting facilities and training programmes and volunteering opportunities at Project Abundance CIC in Peterborough

Paul Bristow, Conservative mayor of Cambridgeshire and Peterborough, said the grants were designed to revitalise community spaces and upgrade local facilities.