Borough Council

Executive 4 th January 2012

Solway Wetlands Project

The Reason for the Decision To endorse the Solway Wetlands Project and to act as Accountable Body for the Project should the bid be approved.

Summary of options consid ered Allerdale BC is responsible for the majority of the land within the AONB and Project Area and no other Partners are able to act as Accountable Body.

Recommendations That the bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for the Solway Wetlands Project be endorsed and the Council agrees to act as Accountable Body for the Project.

Financial/Resource Implications The Project Value is £3.422 million of which £1.89 million is sought from the Heritage Lottery Fund. This is matched by (confirmed) external and in kind contributions and volunteer time. Allerdale BC will be contributing indirectly to the Project through its funding for the AONB Unit. The project budget contains an element of funding to cover central overhead costs.

Legal Implications The Co uncil will be required to sign up to a partnership Agreement and Heritage Lottery Fund Standard terms of Grant.

Community Safety Implications None arising from this report

Health and Safety and Risk None arising from thi s report Management Implications

Equality Duty considered/Impact To be completed Assessment completed

Wards Affected Holme, Marsh, , Solway, Wampool, Waver

The contribution this decision would The Project supports the Council’s Objectives make to the Council’s Strategic in terms of addressing Climate Change, Objectives attracting and supporting new businesses and working with Partners.

Is this a Key Decision No

Portfolio Holder Cllr Michael Heaslip Dr Brian Irving Lead Officer AON B Manager 016973 33055 [email protected]

Report Implications (Please delete where applicable).

Community Safety N Employment (external to the Council) Y Financial Y Employment (internal) Y Legal Y Partnership Y Social Inclusion Y Asset Management N Equality Duty N Health and Safety N

Background papers

1.0 Introduction

1.1 At the turn of the new millennium, English Nature, Environment Agency, RSPB, Wildlife Trust and Solway Coast AONB partnered on a project called ‘Peatlands for People’. This project helped people enjoy the lowland raised mires of the for its wildlife and highlighted the fragile and recovering nature of these nationally rare sites. During this period the North West Development Agency funded the Northwest Wetlands Project which looked at the tourism potential of the wetlands to provide for tourism and strengthen rural economies. The report concluded that the wetlands of the Solway Plain was one of three areas in the Northwest to be large enough, diverse enough and underused enough to be developed.

The Solway Coast AONB incorporated these findings into its Management Plan 2004-2009 and worked with the Peatlands for People Partnership to develop ideas to secure a large (landscape scale) set of ideas that could potentially win funding from the Heritage Lottery Fund and especially their Landscape Partnership Scheme.

With further work on wetlands and the signing nationally of the 50 year vision for wetlands by English Heritage, Environment Agency, Natural , RSPB and The Wildlife Trusts the current Solway Coast AONB Management Plan outlined the same Vision at local level. The strapline for the 50 year Vision for wetlands is:

“England’s Wetland Landscape: securing a future for nature, people and the historic environment”

It underpins the broad base of the Solway Wetlands Project and puts into context the various aspects of its work whilst creating a platform for learning, education, access and sustainable tourism.

The project has a significant role in combatting climate change. Through water capture and retention onto the raised mires the project aims to help the natural environment fix carbon as plant material and keep it there as , and restore areas of peatland that are losing carbon and also producing methane. It will also retain water in wet meadows which were such a feature of the countryside before wholesale drainage became the norm. All of these outcomes represent major contributions to the slowing down of global warming and seek to restore the carbon balance within the atmosphere and biosphere.

1.2 The Project Objectives and Project Area are shown in Appendices 1 & 2 of this report.

2.0 Content of the Project

2.1 There are 29 projects in total ranging from those directly conserving the , to recording the memories of the community, to creating a look-out tower, to offering Apprenticeships in Environmental Conservation. Projects will be delivered through a range of partner organisations.

Projects within the bid fall within four broad categories:

Conservation and Restoration of the Natural and Built Heritage The main projects include a new Interpretation and Visitor Centre at Holme Cultram Abbey and a new Wetlands Centre linked to the RSPB reserve at Campfield marsh.

Community Participation The Project seeks to engage with all sectors of the community from landowners to school children. Individual projects will include a programme of events, environmental and heritage education, linked to local schools, volunteering opportunities and a living history project in partnership with Age UK. The Project will also seek to create new and extend the existing wetland areas, thus assisting the general process of carbon sequestration.

Access and Learning Access improvements include both physical access and signage and interpretation. The project will provide a high viewing tower at Glasson Moss to enable a wider audience to understand the landscape.

Training and Skills The Project will host a variety of training and development opportunities including Apprenticeships in Environmental Conservation, land management skills training and archaeological placement opportunity.

3.0 Customer Focus

3.1 The Project is rooted in the community of the Solway Plain and thus reflects local needs.

4.0 Locality Working

4.1 The Project will bring significant investment into the North Allerdale area and recognises the unique character of the landscape.

5.0 Finance/Resource Implications

5.1 The Project will be managed by the Project Team, funded through the agreed project budget. As Accountable Body, the Council will be responsible for authorising grant claims and the management of the Project cashflow.

5.2 The project budget allows for the Council to recover agreed costs in terms of support services such as HR and Finance.

5.3 There is no direct contribution from Allerdale BC to the project although indirect support will be provided via the annual funding contribution to the AONB Unit.

5.4 The project funding breakdown is as follows:

Match value £783,731 In kind value £144,200 Volunteer value £589,900 10 Management and Maintenance £21,000 HLF £1,883,200 Total £3,422,031

6.0 Legal Implications and Risks

6.1 The Project will be governed by a Partnership Agreement, the precise wording of which has yet to be agreed (and to which the Council will have input). The Council would need to agree to the Heritage Lottery Standard Terms of Grant, which it has previously for projects such as Derwentwater Foreshore. The Standard Terms of Grant are attached at Appendix 3.

7.0 Recommendations

7.1 That the Council endorses the bid to the Heritage Lottery Fund for the Solway Wetlands Project and agrees to act as Accountable Body for the Project.

8.0 Conclusion

8.1 The Solway wetlands Project represents a considerable investment into the landscape, ecology and economy of the area and will bring significant benefits to local businesses, landowners and the Council’s climate change agenda.

Officer Name – Brian Irving Strategic Manager - Ian Payne

Appendix 1 – Project Objectives

1. Extend existing managed wetland areas through working with landowners to create a patchwork of wetlands

2. Consolidate existing peat mosses to mitigate against the effects of climate change through carbon sequestration and flood prevention

3. Conserve or replace built landscape features such as gate stoops and kested hedgerows and utilise existing older buildings for community purposes of training, education, volunteer bases and interpretation

4. Provide new intellectual access and interpretive facilities, alongside improved physical access opportunities to enable better understanding of the landscape, especially its role in carbon sequestration

5. Create new opportunities for training and skills through apprenticeships, placements, the events programme and working with Newton Rigg

6. Empower local people to become involved in conserving the landscape and make decisions about its future

7. Ensure close partnership working to share resources and embed this way of working in order to secure the environmental future of the area after the project ends

Appendix 2 – Project Area

Bowness on Solway

1 2

3

4

5

6

Key

1 Bowness Common 2 Glasson Moss 3 Drumburgh Moss 4 Orton Moss 5 Wedholme Flow 6 Table A

The blue line / lowest of the lines shows the project boundary. The green lines / encasing the mosses show SSSI sites. The red line following the Coast shows the Solway Coast AONB boundary.