Malmesbury River Valleys Trust

WYNYARD PLANTATION MANAGEMENT PLAN  (October 2008)

BACKGROUND

The Wynyard Plantation consists of about 0.5 hectares of land overlooking the town of Malmesbury.  It was given to the Malmesbury River Valleys Trust in 2002.

The area was originally flat and completely without trees.  It had been a railway cutting but was made level by using spoil from the building of the bypass in the late 1970s.

Access is via a steep set of steps and footpath from Baskerville or via a footpath leading from the bypass.

In 1982 the then new owners began planting native trees including a small plot of basket willows.  Apart from digging a pond, their aim was to cover the area with trees in accordance with the United Nations (UN) campaign to “Plant for the Planet 7 million trees” in order to address climate change as well as the other benefits that trees provide.

When trees fall down or are burned, the CO2 absorbed by them is released again so there is a real need to plant new trees.  In addition to this, many important insects, particularly bees and butterflies, are also at risk.  There is a need therefore to plant some of the area with native bushes and herbs which specifically attract insects and other invertebrates.  This is particularly important because the disappearance of so many bees would eventually put field and fruit crops at risk if reduced pollination were to result.

SHORT TERM PLAN

1.      The open area

  • To be maintained more or less as it is

  • Within this, 2 to 3 small areas of grass could be scraped and planted with native wild flower seeds and some herbs such as marjoram

  • The west boundary parallel to the path over the previous railway bridge to be planted with native trees and shrubs (25 in total).  Some bramble could be cleared in order for planting to take place

  • A previously planted rowan which has died has now been removed and needs to be replaced with another but positioned further towards the west and south hedges to preserve the “open” aspect of the open area

2.    The Pond 

  • All willows at the east end of the pond to be coppiced.  The stumps should be left at about 2” to 4”.  The cut material should be taken away from the pond and made into a habitat heap and need not be burned

  • The path by the pond down to the lower area should be kept clear

  • Some of the tall willows/osiers behind the aforementioned willows could also be coppiced, but mostly to be left

  • The pond should be cleared of most of the bulrushes/great reedmace.  This work should be carried out during autumn/winter outside the amphibian breeding season

3.      The area beyond the old gate 

  • The hawthorn hedge along the fence should be trimmed and cut back so that it becomes denser/more bushy to eventually make a hedge 2m tall

  • Brambles along the other side of this boundary path should be cut back with a brush cutter

  • The path in from the little apple tree to the north boundary could be cleared, avoiding all trees

ORDER OF PRIORITY

(a)   Trim the hawthorn hedge and cut back brambles along the boundary path

(b)  Order and plant trees and shrubs and clear spaces in the open area for seeds

(c)  Coppice the willows and make habitat heap

(d)   Start pond clearance work and finish by February 2009

 MEDIUM/LONG TERM PLAN

To be maintained in accordance with the above.  There should not be any need for widespread removal of brambles and self seeded hawthorn as these will be shaded out and suppressed by the trees as they grow.

OVERALL OBJECTIVE

It is proposed that Wynyard Plantation will remain primarily an area for wildlife although members of the public will be encouraged to visit Wynyard Plantation as an area for quiet enjoyment or contemplation.

Sunday October 3rd

Land Management at Wynyards Reserve.