Restored landfill site is reborn as nature reserve

Aug 19 2008 by Mieka Smiles, The Journal

ARESTORED landfill site has been given a new lease of life as a nature reserve. Dog walkers, young families, riders and birdwatchers are now a familiar sight on Bowes Valley Nature Reserve, which has millions of tonnes of waste buried underground.

The site, near Kibblesworth village in Gateshead, has been hailed nationally as a model for how old landfill sites can be turned back into a resource that benefits the local community.

It is an example showing how innovative restoration schemes, community consultation and modern engineering practices are combining to transform landfill sites and the areas around them into a thriving habitat for nature and animals.

Hidden away in a quiet corner of Gateshead, Bowes Valley Nature Reserve is just five minutes drive from the A1 at the southern end of Team Valley.

It has been developed above an old landfill site which contains millions of tonnes of waste from across Tyne and Wear.

The reserve, which stretches over 40 hectares, has a series of paths for visitors to stroll along.

There are ponds and wetlands to explore, which have also been created to help attract a range of wildlife including dragonflies, frogs, swans, skylarks and other wild birds as well as the rare Greyling butterfly.

A variety of trees and wild flowers have also been planted and are now starting to take hold on the site.

Annemarie Wilshaw, planning manager with Sita UK, said: “Bowes Valley Nature Reserve is a great place for people to bring their young kids or dogs out for a walk because there’s loads of space for them to enjoy.

“The views across Tyneside are great as well – you get a really unusual angle of the Angel of the North and can see as far as St James’s Park.”

The land is leased by Sita UK and the company has worked with Gateshead Council, which approved and monitors the restoration scheme, as well as the Great North Forest and the Forestry Commission, which both provided expertise and funding, to ensure the restoration scheme blended with the surrounding countryside. Bowes Valley is just one example of how today’s highly-engineered landfill sites are being planned and developed with the long-term future of the environment in mind.

Elsewhere in the region, as part of its work in seeking approval to extend its Seghill landfill site, Sita UK has submitted extensive plans to landscape the area to provide community facilities and screen the operations while the site is in use.

The plans include:

Creating a new country park called Holywell Woods to the south of the site between it and the village of Backworth. It will be a mix of publicly accessible woodland, grassland and hedgerows reached by a new network of footpaths and a car park.

Creating a new 2km off-road cycle route along the old Mineral Railway route to take cyclists off the road through Backworth. The new route will link up with the existing and highly popular Reivers cycle route, which runs from the A19 underpass to the east of Backworth.

An advance planting programme which will include 27 new hectares of woodlands, 2.7km of new or improved hedgerows and 64 new avenue trees, all designed to shield the site from view during operational years.

Removing the existing watercourse and creating an attractive new 1.7km- long stream to extend the natural habitat of water voles and otters in the area.

Enhancing and extending 5km of bridleways around the site.

Creating almost 2.5km of footpaths to provide alternative routes between the local communities and across the surrounding area. This will include a new footbridge over Seaton Burn within Holywell Dene.

John Grainger, general manager for Sita UK in the North East, said: “A substantial amount of community consultation and planning goes into developing these landscaping and aftercare schemes, and getting them right is as important as developing and operating the site itself.

“As responsible landowners, we have a long-term duty and responsibility to work with local communities and develop plans that will manage the environment around the sites while we operate waste facilities and ensure that they are well managed long into the future.”