Next Tuesday (28 February 2017) will see the official opening of the county’s newest nature reserve, Smalley Hill Nature Reserve, New Works, Telford. Shropshire Wildlife Trust has enhanced this wonderful haven for wildlife by carrying out a £50,000 transformation of the former open-cast coal and landfill site at Smalley Hill, which was capped and restored in the late 1980s. Tuesday’s event will start at 2.00pm with an official opening of the site. Representatives of The Veolia Environmental Trust and Veolia, which restored the landfill, will join wildlife trust staff, local residents, and volunteers who helped make the project happen to tour the site. The project’s aims were to engage with local people, particularly young ones, through various site activities, improve access to the reserve, and enhance the overall biodiversity and habitat for amphibian, mammal, bird and bug species. Since 2015 Wildlife Trust workers and local volunteers have worked in all weathers to create the reserve. They cleared encroaching scrub and installed several bat and barn owl boxes. Hedgerow surveys were undertaken and existing hedges were laid by volunteers who had attended a hedgelaying course as part of the project. Several ponds and shallow pools, or scrapes, were created to create habitats for a wide range of species including greater crested newts and Snipe. A bird survey was also undertaken and a boardwalk, a pond dipping platform and a straw-bale bird-hide were constructed. Funders include The Veolia Environmental Trust who awarded a grant of £38,804 through the Landfill Communities Fund. Shropshire Wildlife Trust’s Development Manager, John Hughes, says, “We are delighted with our new reserve. It will not only benefit the wildlife that lives there, but will also give the public and schools the opportunity to engage with and learn about local nature. It would have not been possible without our volunteers, who gained new skills, and our funders.” Veolia's Regional Director for the Midlands, Donald Macphail, says, "This project is fantastic example of Veolia working with a local wildlife trust to create a great resource that can be enjoyed by all. I look forward to visiting it on Tuesday and seeing the results the volunteers' hard work." The Executive Director of The Veolia Environmental Trust, Paul Taylor, adds, “We support community and environmental projects across England and Wales and it is always a pleasure to hear about the opening of one we have helped. I am sure that this new reserve will be visited and enjoyed by a wide range of people and that it will thrive well into the future.” More information Smalley Hill: Centuries of industrial activity have shaped the landscape around Smalley Hill. Small-scale coal mining took place at site since the 14th Century and clay found within seams in the mines were used by local brickworks and potteries.The brickworks at Smalley Hill operated from 1839 – 1881 and in the early 20th Century the clay as used by the Coalmoor Sanitary Pipe Company. Opencast workings after World War II left a big hole which would later become a landfill site. This was eventually restored by Veolia in the late 1980s. 23.02.2017 Former landfill transformed into nature haven

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