Brownhills Common Site of Special Scientific Interest Heathland Restoration 2 Brownhills West Watling Street A5 Brownhills Common Holland Park Chester Road North The Parade N 50 metres Figure 1. Brownhills Common Reproduced from the Ordnance Survey mapping with the permission of the Controller of Her Majesty's Stationery Office. Brownhills (c) Crown Copyright and database rights 2011 Ordnance Survey 100019529 Drop-In Events This booklet contains information about Natural England and Walsall Council’s proposals for the appropriate management and maintenance of Brownhills Common Site of Special Scientific Interest, with the purpose of restoring it to its natural habitat of lowland heathland by 2022. You can give us your views on the heathland restoration by completing the questionnaire included in this booklet or online at www.walsall.gov.uk/brownhills_common_nature_reserve.htm or come and talk to us at one of the drop in events listed below: Wednesday 24th July, 1.00pm to 4.00pm Holland Park car park, The Parade Thursday 25th July, 10.00am to 1.00pm Brownhills Library, Park View Centre Wednesday 31st July, 10.30am to 4.00pm Brownhills Fun Day, Holland Park Tuesday 6th August, 10.00am to 2.00pm Environment Day, Walsall Arboretum Wednesday 7th August, 12.00pm to 2.30pm Children’s Play Day, Brownhills Children’s Centre, Great Charles Street Saturday 10th August, 11.00am to 4.00pm Community Fun Day, Brownhills Activity Centre, Chester Road North Saturday 10th and Sunday 11th August, 10.00am to 4.00pm Walsall Town Show, Walsall Arboretum The times and venues above may be subject to change. Please refer to the Brownhills Common website for current information www.walsall.gov.uk/brownhills_common_nature_reserve.htm. The information and consultation period lasts until 14th August 2013, with views being used to help inform aspects of the management of Brownhills Common. Front Cover: Brownhills Common © Colin Manning, Walsall Council 3 Brownhills Common Site of Special Scientific Interest Heathland Restoration Introduction Background Brownhills Common is registered Brownhills Common is part of the Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) because of its wet and dry common land and comes under the lowland heath, fens and standing open water habitats. responsibility of Walsall Council. These habitats support special types of plants and Brownhills Common also forms part of the Chasewater animals, many of which cannot survive elsewhere. and Southern Staffordshire Coalfield Heaths Site of Special Scientific Interest, which extends northwards Lowland heathland is now incredibly rare. Over 80% into Staffordshire. This means that Walsall Council has has been lost since 1800 and the UK holds over 20% a legal obligation under the Wildlife and Countryside of the world total, with Walsall Borough containing the Act to manage the area appropriately. most across the Black Country. Management work over the next ten years will include removing two small conifer plantations and restoring these areas to lowland heathla nd, removing up to 30% of the trees from other conifer plantations and managing areas of broadleaved woodland, lowland heathland and grasslands. We are keen to receive your views on the timing of the management work and location of replacement tree planting. We are also proposing to establish a Friends of Brownhills Common group of local people who would like to contribute towards the management of area. This booklet has been produced and a series of Figure 2. White-tailed Bumblebee (Bombus lucorum) drop-in events (see page 3) are being held to raise on Heather © Morgan Bowers, Walsall Council awareness of the ongoing management work. In 2010, an assessment by Natural England found Please read the information provided in this booklet, Brownhills Common to be ‘unfavourable recovering’: which is also available on the Council’s website, and unfavourable because of the high scrub and woodland give us your views by: cover, with more intensive management needed, but recovering because management is deliverable. • Meeting us at one of the drop-in events • Completing the questionnaire at the Walsall Council entered into a Higher Level back of this booklet or online at Stewardship agreement with Natural England in www.walsall.gov.uk/brownhills_common_ October 2012, which will support management of the nature_reserve.htm site for the next decade. • E-mailing [email protected] With Natural England and the Forestry Commission we Thank you. are preparing a management plan that will help inform the work to be undertaken across the area. Walsall Countryside Services Undertaking this work would satisfy Walsall Council’s legal obligations and result in the SSSI achieving favourable condition by 2022. 4 Brownhills Common, Site of Special Scientific Interest Brownhills Common is a special place – for wildlife and The SSSI condition assessment at the time of the people. It forms part of the Chasewater and Southern re notification found Brownhills Common to be Staffordshire Coalfield Heaths Site of Special Scientific ‘unfavourable recovering’: Interest (SSSI), which was re notified in December • ‘Unfavourable’ because of the high scrub and 2010 (see Figure 3). woodland cover (c37%), with more intensive The importance of the SSSI is enhanced by its management needed strategic location in providing an ecological link • ‘Recovering’ because the area is in a between nationally important heaths of Cannock stewardship agreement and management to Chase and Sutton Park tackle these concerns is deliverable. Figure 3. Chasewater and Southern Staffordshire Coalfield Heaths SSSI (outlined in (Source: blue). WebMap, Natural England. Ordnance Survey 100022861) The habitats present on Brownhills Common that have Stewardship Agreements made the site worthy of being designated a SSSI are: From 2002 to 2012, Brownhills Common was under • Dry heathland: Common Heather (Calluna a Countryside Stewardship scheme between Walsall vulgaris) & Wavy Hair grass (Deschampsia Council and Natural England. Work included heathland flexuosa) heath and Common Heather (Calluna creation and management, scrub clearance and vulgaris) & Western Gorse (Ulex gallii) heath management of the conifer plantations. • Wet heathland: Cross-leaved Heath (Erica tetralix) Walsall Council and Natural England agreed a ten & Low Bog-moss (Sphagnum compactum) heath year Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) scheme in 2012. • Acidic fen wetlands: Common Cotton-grass This includes more heathland management, scrub clearance and management of areas of broadleaved (Eriophorum angustifolium) bog pool and Star and conifer woodland i.e. a continuation of the Sedge (Carex echinata) and Feathery Bog- previous work. Natural England and Walsall Council moss / Cow horn Bog-moss (Sphagnum are funding this work. recurvum / auriculatum) mire The main purpose of the HLS agreement is to restore Cannock Chase District Council, Lichfield District Council the heathland areas to favourable condition by 2022, if and Staffordshire County Council are also carrying out not sooner. similar management work on their parts of the SSSI. 5 Lowland Heathland Heathland Wildlife Lowland heathland is a broadly open landscape on Lowland heathland supports special types of plants acidic mineral and shallow peat soil, with plants such and animals (see back cover pages), many of which as heathers and gorses. cannot survive elsewhere. Areas of heathland in good condition consist of these Brownhills Common has three species of heather (Bell plants of varying heights and structures with over 25% Heather, Common Heather and Cross-leaved Heath) cover, plus at least some of the following features: and other shrubs like Bilberry, Broom and European scattered and clumped trees and scrub (less than 15% and Western Gorse. Cutting different areas each year cover), Bracken, bare ground, lichens, grassland, wet varies the age structure. wThis allows lichens, mosses heaths, bogs and open waters. and other plants, plus beetles, mining bees and other Heathland is a dynamic habitat, undergoing significant invertebrates to colonize the bare ground. In contrast, changes and through different stages, from bare ground older vegetation provides nest sites for birds such as and grass to mature, dense heath – a process called Common Whitethroat, Linnet and Skylark. ‘succession’. Different successional stages are often The heathland also provides opportunities for rare and present together on a site. threatened reptiles such as Common Lizard and Slow Lowland heathland is now incredibly rare. Over 80% worm, and amphibians like Great Crested Newt. has been lost since 1800 and mostly since 1950 Herds of Red Deer roam freely across heathlands and to agriculture, afforestation, development and lack woodlands in south Staffordshire and north Walsall, of management leading to the establishment of with small groups often seen on Brownhills Common. woodland. The UK holds over 20% of the world total. Just 198ha of lowland heathland remain in Birmingham and the Black Country, with Walsall Borough containing the most across the Black Country. Walsall Countryside Services have successfully created and managed areas of heathland on Brownhills Common, Barr Beacon, Pelsall North Common and Shire Oak Park. At the time of the SSSI re-notification, heathland habitats (including acidic grassland) covered 12.2 ha of Brownhills Common. The remaining 20.5ha were made up of woodland (15.2ha) and other habitats (5.3ha) e.g. Bramble, grassland, scrub, weedy areas and paths. Biodiversity