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Abbotts Hall - summary
Abbots Hall Farm is a 700-acre coastal farm lying adjacent to the northern
shore of the Blackwater Estuary in Essex. It has been bought by the Essex Wildlife
Trust who took it over Spring 2000. It is being managed as a viable farm but
with emphasis on improving the conditions for wildlife. Part of this work includes
a 'managed
realignment' over 200 acres (84ha) of former farmland where breaches
in the sea wall took place (November 2002). The area involved and the 'new'
habitat to be restored are shown in the figure taken from the Trust Web Site
@ : http://www.essexwt.org.uk/
| The scheme was designed to benefit the natural environment
by creating 115ha of transitional and intertidal saltmarsh and mudflat.
The proposed sequence of habitat restoration on the site is:
- new mudflat/saltmarsh;
- new coastal grassland;
- new saline lagoon;
- new reedbed.
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| Guidance: The case of Abbotts Hall provides an example of the
sequence of events that need to be taken when progressing a realignment
scheme. They include the following actions:
- carry out an archaeological evaluation of part of the land prior
to the excavation of a new freshwater lake;
- survey the vegetation, soil and topography of the fields before they
are flooded;
- obtain planning permission for the lake and new spur sea walls;
- undertake pre-treatment monitoring work (2002) on tidal dynamics,
flow rates, sedimentation etc. in the main Salcott Channel. The results
were used to determine the location, number and size of the breaches
in the sea wall.
- build structures;
- breach sea wall and allow saltwater to flow onto the land behind;
- monitor
the subsequent development of mud flats and saltmarshes.
Funding: The aim is to restore saltmarshes and form a coastline
which is more sustainable in terms of wildlife and economics and also for
its potential use by local communities. The World
Wide Fund for Nature, the Environment Agency (http://www.environment-agency.gov.uk/),
the Heritage Lottery Fund (http://www.hlf.org.uk/)
and English Nature (http://www.english-nature.org.uk/)
all provided support. A key element in the restoration strategy is the use
of the UK Government
Stewardship programme.
The Inter-Tidal Creation option was at the centre of developments affecting
about 70ha of arable reversion to saltmarsh. |
Comment: Great care was taken to identify and mitigate potential
problems occurring during the constructions phases of the works. Details are
provided in a series of Environmental Statements prepared for the Environment
Agency by Posford Haskoning Ltd. (Reference 3G55532/ROOO1/N.C./Hayw) these are
summarised for the construction
and operational
phases, providing an indication for other schemes of the issues involved and
ways of reducing their impact.
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