Yesterday a dozen PLPT volunteers continued to open up the west bank of the RM Canal, cutting back bramble and old reed to encourage regeneration of the linear reedbed.

The thickets were more difficult to tackle than anticipated, on account of a tangle of blackthorn within them. We do not intend to eliminate this scrub, which is a valuable wildlife habitat, but rather to restrict it to allow a greater diversity to develop.

Some areas we have recently cleared will be allowed to grow up again, but maybe not for so many years at a time.

We have been in discussion with contractors to carry out some heavier work in early 2016. This will involve the removal of denser blackthorn scrub more or less opposite the Old Coastguards and on the east bank between Glenview and Whispering Reeds. This should conclude the large-scale clearance of recent years, future scrub control effected through mowing/flailing.