Developers give £800,000 for heath protection
DEVELOPERS across south east Dorset have handed over almost £800,000 towards the cost of protecting heathland since January.
The ongoing boom in new development locally has resulted in developers paying around £100,000 a month in levies.
The contributions have been handed over under the terms of the Heathlands Mitigation Strategy - an agreement put in place as a way of balancing the effects of building new flats and houses on sensitive heathland.
The strategy was drawn up last year when there were fears that all new building work across the region would grind to a halt. At that time, English Nature (now Natural England) were advising that development within 5km of heathland should be refused and some local councils stopped considering planning applications.
So far this year, £798,000 has been collected from developers in Bournemouth, Poole, East Dorset, Christchurch, Purbeck and North Dorset.
Developers are required to pay a levy of £1,581 per house and £949 per flat, on top of the contributions they make for open space, affordable housing and highway improvements.
An executive board, made up of representatives from all the local councils, then decides how to spend the money.
A large part of the money raised has been spent on heath wardens and education programmes to increase public awareness of the importance of local heathland.
The rest of the money is allocated to individual councils to fund specific projects. Projects in Bournemouth include Gulliver's Trail, an £82,300 project to link eight sites in north Bournemouth, and a £70,000 scheme to encourage walkers and cyclists to use Meyrick Park as an alternative to Talbot Heath.
7:00pm Sunday 26th August 2007
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CommentPosted by: paul, poole on 11:51am Mon 27 Aug 07
money,money,money, it's so funny, in a rich mans world....
Ooo, the heathland must be saved from the bricks and mortar....what about the trees that were there a 1000 yrs ago before they turned it into grazing?
money,money,money, it's so funny, in a rich mans world....
Ooo, the heathland must be saved from the bricks and mortar....what about the trees that were there a 1000 yrs ago before they turned it into grazing?
Posted by: Geoff, Kinson on 5:09pm Mon 27 Aug 07
Sorry Paul but you appear to know little about conservation !
Heathland is a very important area of conservation, supporting a fantastic variety of wildlife and Dorset has most of it !!
I work in conservation and if trees were left unmanaged we would have a very dull environment !
Grazing is used to preserve heathland in many cases, by the way !
Sorry Paul but you appear to know little about conservation !
Heathland is a very important area of conservation, supporting a fantastic variety of wildlife and Dorset has most of it !!
I work in conservation and if trees were left unmanaged we would have a very dull environment !
Grazing is used to preserve heathland in many cases, by the way !
Posted by: Shedmans Friend, Bournemouth on 6:12pm Thu 30 Aug 07
Well said Geoff of Kinson.
2 years back there was a major thrust at Turbary Common to remove a large block of Silver Birch,Alder and other invading trees and shrubs, to encourage the heath to re-establish. The area concerned is on the slope and valley behind Daws Avenue.
A lot of work was done to this area but, the invasive trees are again growing up.
Does anyone know if they will be cut back so that all the earlier efforts are not undone?
Well said Geoff of Kinson.
2 years back there was a major thrust at Turbary Common to remove a large block of Silver Birch,Alder and other invading trees and shrubs, to encourage the heath to re-establish. The area concerned is on the slope and valley behind Daws Avenue.
A lot of work was done to this area but, the invasive trees are again growing up.
Does anyone know if they will be cut back so that all the earlier efforts are not undone?
Posted by: Shedmans Friend, Bournemouth on 6:13pm Thu 30 Aug 07
Well said Geoff of Kinson.
2 years back there was a major thrust at Turbary Common to remove a large block of Silver Birch,Alder and other invading trees and shrubs, to encourage the heath to re-establish. The area concerned is on the slope and valley behind Daws Avenue.
A lot of work was done to this area but, the invasive trees are again growing up.
Does anyone know if they will be cut back so that all the earlier efforts are not undone?
Well said Geoff of Kinson.
2 years back there was a major thrust at Turbary Common to remove a large block of Silver Birch,Alder and other invading trees and shrubs, to encourage the heath to re-establish. The area concerned is on the slope and valley behind Daws Avenue.
A lot of work was done to this area but, the invasive trees are again growing up.
Does anyone know if they will be cut back so that all the earlier efforts are not undone?
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