Wonderful Wetland - The Carrs, Wilmslow

After over 12 months of dedicated effort and navigating the planning process, we have received a final decision from Cheshire East Council. Unfortunately, planning permission for the new wetland was denied due to a misalignment between the park’s current management plan and the specific ecological priorities the Local Authority has. Whilst we did everything possible to get the original design over the line, we aren’t letting this stop us! We are excited to announce that the project is still moving forwards to enhance the existing wildlife scrapes within the park. By shifting our focus, we can deliver immediate benefits to our local wildlife. Your generous donations will now be used to: * Refine the shape and structure of existing scrapes for better water retention. * Boost wildlife with new native seeds, plants, and protective coir rolls. * Install fresh interpretation signage to help visitors enjoy and understand the habitat. We are so proud of our community’s persistence. This is a fantastic way to ensure your support makes a real, visible impact on the park we all love. Onward and upward!

This morning we had some video footage sent to us clearly showing an otter rolling around on the grass very close to the River Bollin. The footage was taken a few miles away from where we will build the wetland...and is very exciting to show how the water quality and habitats of the Bollin are improving. You can find out more and view the video here: https://www.merseyrivers.org/index.php/news

I am super stoked to let you know that the pledges for this Wetland Project just keep rolling in.... We applied for £2,000 from the Wilmslow Town Council Green Community Fund to support the purchase of additional wetland plants and reeds to help our wetland really get going once it is dug, and we were awarded the grant today. I can't quote believe it! This is wonderful news and we are all so happy to have this extra funding in place so we can make the wetland even better and more species rich than we thought. Huge thanks to Wilmslow Town Council! I am getting meetings set up with Cheshire East Council this month. Cheshire East are very excited to have this project happening on their land, and we will start looking together at plans and designs so we can start construction work soon. Sal :)

So, it has been a whirlwind but we did it and have met our funding target! :) Thank you to all of you who have donated, and we are in a position to be able to do a little bit more with the extra funding that has been provided. The next steps are to get all the partners round the table to chat about the precise design of the wetland, how big, how deep and what plants and trees we want in it. I'll keep posting updates on here so you can see the wetland starting to take shape. Sal :)

I still can't quite believe that we have managed to smash our funding target and we will get to see this wetland created on the Carrs...it is truly amazing! More pledges have come in, which have resulted in £330 more than our target amount. This will be spent on a mini-open day when the wetland is created that everyone is invited to. If you haven't roped your friends and family into donating the time to do so is running out...every little still helps and we're grateful for every pound pledged. Thank you so much :)

We have reached our fundraising target, which is absolutely amazing!! Absolutely could not have done this without all your support, and every single pound pledged to this project thanks to our backers. Can't wait to get stuck in with our waders and creating a wonderful wetland habitat on the Carrs :)