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GENERAL PROJECT

Birtley Reed Beds Refurbishment

Reed beds refurbishment to provide free space within the beds for further treatment of minewater and sewage using this sustainable process. Our sewage treatment works and reed beds aid NWG in improving the quality of rivers and coastal waters for the benefit of people, the environment and wildlife.

Update by Colin Burdon

10th March 2021

Hi,

Last week we began cutting reeds in two of our reed beds to ensure that these are unsuitable for nesting this year and to allow us to harvest reed turves from them over the next three months.  The reed cutting will be complete within a week and we will not be planning to cut any of the other reed beds in 2021 to ensure that nesting locations are available for the bird species that make use of our habitat.

The reed turves harvested this year will be transplanted into two other beds that have already had their minewater and wastewater sediment removed.  These refurbished beds will then flourish and provide further years of successful service; co-treating minewater and wastewater, and also continuing to provide an excellent habitat for all the wildlife species using them.

In previous years, the reeds have grown out of the edges of the beds and this year we have plans to regularly cut the grass and to prevent reeds growing on the grassed slopes.  Doing this will assist future maintenance of the reed beds, allowing us to keep them in good condition for the benefit of our treatment operations.

Regards,

Colin Burdon

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