Charity celebrates as land appeal target is reached
Great changes are happening at Hauxley nature reserve as Northumberland Wildlife Trust announces its Hauxley Land Appeal has reached its £75,000 target and a new visitor centre is being designed.
Since its launch in June, contributions to the Land Appeal poured in from all quarters – members of the public, volunteers, local residents and cash bucket collections. A number of charitable trusts such as The Barbour Foundation and The Charles Hayward Foundation, along with Amble Town Council and Amble and Warkworth Rotary Club also pitched in to help.
The aim is to transform the Hauxley reserve into an exceptional place to watch wildlife. The aim was to purchase the 12 acres of farmland adjacent to its existing reserve. This would allow circular walking routes to be created, taking visitors past a wide range of natural features, viewpoints, information boards and seating as they walk around. Thanks to the donations, the trust is able to make its land purchasing dream a reality.
But additional money is needed to install new fences and paths and create new meadows, hedgerows, woodland and wetland. This extension to the Hauxley reserves will open over the next 12 months with stage one opening in the spring of 2014.
Duncan Hutt, Northumberland Wildlife Trust Head of Land Management said: “When we launched the Land Appeal in June, we held our breath to see if we could raise it, given the current economic climate. We are over the moon that the target has been achieved and I say a huge thank you to everyone who saw the potential for making our Hauxley reserve an even more amazing place for both people and wildlife.”
Design for the new visitor centre at Hauxley Nature Reserve
New Visitor Centre
A design by Brightblue Studio has been chosen as the new visitor centre at Hauxley, to replace the previous building which was burnt down in an arson attack in June 2010.
Demolition of the old building took place earlier this year, delayed slightly by great crested newts and a pair of breeding barn owls who liked the place so much, they nested there for two consecutive years. Barn owls boxes had to be installed, before the demolition, which proved popular with the birds.
Alex Lister, Northumberland Wildlife Trust Druridge Bay Estates Officer said: “The work of Architect Henry Amos and his team fits the bill with their design for our new green visitors centre and I am particularly looking forward to the installation of the meadowland turf roof which will hopefully provide valuable habitat to resident wildlife.”
The Hauxley site is best known for its birds but also plays host to some fabulous flowers, it’s an ideal place to spot a large variety of butterflies and one of the best places in the North-East to spot stoats.
To see and comment on the plans, log on at: http://publicaccess.northumberland.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=MXL7WCQS0CL00
