Locals may have noticed some pretty major work going on down at our Westley Vale Millennium Green. The Trustees of Westley Vale have been in touch to explain:

After fourteen months from our first application, we were fortunate to secure funding from Severn Trent Community Fund to create a reed bed on our Millennium Green. With wetland plants along the length of the stream between the two bridges, and wild flower mix to the surrounding area, the reed bed will not only provide a filter system for the heavily polluted Westley Brook, but will also attract a wide variety of wild life to the area.

The work took five days to complete, with a digger and dumper truck on site for two and a half days, then general tiding up until day five when we were all able to get involved in the best bit of sewing the seeds!

Two weeks on and the green shoots are beginning to show – how exciting is that! Although the work on the site was quite startling, the end result will be well worth the wait. What started as an area of disused scrubland, has opened up the stream where the water quality has already improved and we will have a wonderful reed bed which is already attracting a variety of wildlife.

The Brook runs onwards to the Grand Union Canal, is heavily polluted and suffers from domestic miss-connections that were becoming a potential health hazard. The installation of the new reed filtration system was created to greatly reduce the pollutants entering the brook and the canal as it will help improve the water quality and flow.  he installation of brushwood bundles along some of its course and a re-designed meandering course for the brook will also help alleviate flood water in times of high flow.

We hope the resultant improvement to the water quality will help increase the number of aquatic invertebrates which in turn will also attract a greater diversity of wildlife like birds, butterflies, frog and newts. We have already seen evidence of Mayfly larvae in the brook which proves that after only a few days the quality of the water is improving.

The reed bed filtration system is made up of Common Reeds, Reed Mace, and wildflowers have been sown along the banks of the brook which will hopefully become an attractive visual amenity for local visitors to enjoy.

With thanks to Severn Trent, Robert Martyr Project Manager, Lee Copplestone from Waterside Care and Rosemary Pettigrew, Trustee, who was successful in the fundraising.