Rayleigh and Wickford MP, Mark Francois, recently saw a scheme he had been briefed on several years ago come to fruition with the creation of an important new wildlife habitat at Lower Raypits Farm near Canewdon.
A few years ago Mark was briefed by members of the Essex Wildlife Trust on their plans to purchase farm land at Lower Raypits (just south of the River Crouch) and then to carry out engineering works to turn the farm land into a wetland habitat, specifically designed to attract wading and other birds.
Some three years on the programme has been accomplished, with works having been completed and the new facility is in place and is already attracting a considerable number of lapwings and other birds into the area.
During his visit, Mark stood on exactly the same spot where he had been briefed on the programme some three years ago and was able to look out over the new site which is now fully up and running. The area has undergone an extensive restoration to raise water levels by sealing the site to hold more rainfall and harvesting winter rainfall from the central ditch using a compressed air pumping system. This water is stored in a lagoon with gravel topped islands which provide additional habitat and the water can be distributed across the reserve in a network of new ditches.
Commenting on his visit, Mark Francois said:
"It was great to see both the before and after on this project - having seen this scheme brought from a concept and a number of sketches and diagrams a few years ago to actual fruition on the ground. This is a great asset to our local environment and when taken together with the larger RSPB scheme at Wallasea Island could also provide important benefits for tourism in the District as well. I would like to congratulate John Hall, the Chief Executive of Essex Wildlife Trust and all his team for doing such a good job that we can all be proud of."