Wildlife charities have welcomed a report from Colchester City Council that would secure the future of the nationally important Middlewick Ranges wildlife site by saving it from the threat of housing. In a critical week for the future of Middlewick’s threatened species, the Council has recommended remove the nature haven from its Local Plan. This has led to charities and local community groups urging councillors to support the move- and back a newly presented Vision for a Middlewick Ranges Nature Reserve.
Local residents and wildlife groups were outraged when plans were announced for up to 1,000 houses to be built on the Ministry of Defence (MOD) land- with ‘the Wick’ long viewed as a precious green space and haven for nature. Concern for Middlewick Ranges has been so great that wildlife experts collaborated and called on the Government’s environmental advisor Natural England to take immediate action to designate it as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) in July 2024. They have even written to the Secretary of State for Defence, John Healy, calling on him to step in to stop the sale of the site, which the MOD has ear-marked for disposal.
With Colchester City Council set to review its Local Plan at a crunch meeting on 17th February, the Council has announced that a report evaluating new evidence of Middlewick’s ecological importance and an overwhelming response from the local community, is recommending that it be spared. This follow’s firm advice from Natural England that any housing would cause irreparable harm. Councillors on the Local Plan Committee will now vote on the recommendation ahead of a six-week public consultation and charities are urging them to take the opportunity to save Colchester’s green lungs.
There are also calls for the Council to back plans that would protect the site for future generations. The Friends of Middlewick, a 3,500 strong community group that has been campaigning to ‘Save the Wick’, has created a Vision for a Middlewick Ranges Nature Reserve. This Vision lays out why the site is so vital to local residents and what a nature reserve would look like. Informed by a poll of local residents it is backed by a host of local wildlife and community groups, including Buglife, Butterfly Conservation, Colchester Natural History Society, CPRE Essex, Essex Field Club, Essex Wildlife Trust and RSPB.
The charities now believe that Colchester City Council’s report is a stepping stone towards seeing this Vision for Middlewick Ranges put in place.
Community Campaign © Richard Martin
Martin Pugh, Deputy Chair of the Friends of Middlewick Ranges says, “This vision, shaped by the experiences of our members and the voices of the Colchester community, is a bold and positive step towards securing Middlewick’s future. The evidence is overwhelming – protecting Middlewick as a nature reserve is the only logical path forward. It’s a once-in-a-generation opportunity to safeguard this extraordinary place for people and wildlife, now and for future generations.”
Dr Jeremy Dagley, Director of Conservation for Essex Wildlife Trust says, “We warmly welcome the recommendation in this report and urge Colchester councillors to vote in support of their council’s careful, evidence-based approach to reaching this exemplary decision. We hope that work can now begin to ensure that Middlewick Ranges is fully protected for future generations. We have here an outstandingly important site for wildlife, which is nationally significant for its ancient acid grassland, diverse communities of fungi and invertebrates, and for its nightingales, Barbastelle bats and ancient and veteran trees. It is undoubtedly the ‘jewel in the City’s crown’ and should be showcased as a beautiful, nature-rich green space where wildlife thrives and people are enriched.”
Jamie Robins, Programmes Manager at Buglife says, “Against the background of a nature emergency, with our insects in steep decline, it is more important than ever to celebrate and preserve our best wildlife sites. We hope that this is a first step towards Middlewick Ranges and the special species that call it home being there to enjoy for future generations.”
Sitting on the southern edge of Colchester, Middlewick Ranges is a former firing range that has become a much-loved community green space in an increasingly congested city. With habitats lost across the landscape, Middlewick now supports over 10% of the county’s rare remaining acid grassland. Its expansive mosaic of flowery grassland, sandy slopes, lichen heath, scrub, ponds and hedgerows has made it home to a rich diversity of animals.
Middlewick Ranges is part of a nationally important network of sites for Red Listed Nightingales (Luscinia megarhynchos) – forming part of an assemblage of over 20 Red and Amber Listed breeding birds on the site. Most recently surveys have shown it to be the most important grassland fungi site in the East of England, and exceeding the national importance thresholds for Waxcap and Club fungi. It is home to nearly 1,500 invertebrate species, including 167 species of conservation concern. Incredibly, a quarter of all the UK’s spider species have been recorded here, including the Vulnerable Six-spotted Mouse-spider (Phaeocedus braccatus). It is also home to a quarter of all of Essex’s recorded butterflies and moths. Other threatened species have found a refuge here, such as the striking Endangered Necklace Ground Beetle (Carabus monilis) and the Four-banded Weevil-wasp (Cerceris quadricincta), a wasp only found in Essex and Kent. The Ranges also support thriving populations of reptiles, amphibians and mammals.
The ‘Middlewick Ranges Nature Reserve- a Vision 2025’ can be downloaded here: https://cdn.buglife.org.uk/downloads/Middlewick-Ranges-Nature-Reserve-Vision-2025-compressed.pdf. The Vision was created by the Friends of Middlewick Ranges and is supported by Buglife, Butterfly Conservation, Colchester Natural History Society, CPRE Essex, Essex Field Club, Essex Wildlife Trust and RSPB.
The ‘Middlewick Ranges: the case for Site of Special Scientific Interest designation’ report can be downloaded here: https://cdn.buglife.org.uk/downloads/Middlewick-Ranges-case-for-designation-FINAL.pdf. The report was produced by Buglife, Butterfly Conservation, Colchester Natural History Society, Essex Field Club, Essex Wildlife Trust and the Friends of Middlewick. The accompanying letter to the Natural England Chief Executive, Marian Spain, can be downloaded here: https://cdn.buglife.org.uk/2024/08/Middlewick-Ranges-SSSI-NE-letter-FINAL-UPDATED.pdf
The letter to John Healy, Secretary of State for Defence can be downloaded here: https://cdn.buglife.org.uk/2024/10/Middlewick-Ranges-SoS-letter-2nd-Oct-2024.pdf. The letter was written and signed by Buglife, Butterfly Conservation, Colchester Natural History Society, CPRE Essex, Essex Field Club, Essex Wildlife Trust, Friends of Middlewick and RSPB.
Main Image Credit: Grassland and oak landscape on the Middlewick Ranges © Gosia Zaborny
