Nature reserve hopes for Barnard Castle – but where?

A WILDLIFE boss has sounded hopes for a nature reserve in Barnard Castle in the next five years.

The director of the Durham Wildlife Trust, Jim Cokill, said the town was somewhere his organisation had earmarked for attracting more members before he revealed his aims and aspirations at Barnard Castle Town Council last week.

Mr Cokill said: “We do have an existing membership base here but there is potential to grow.

“We would love to have a nature reserve in the area because that’s one thing we have not got.”

The trust, along with a group of volunteers, have already carried out work at Deepdale Woods, in Startforth, digging ponds, felling and coppicing with the help of many volunteers.

“We have been doing most of the work with funding from Teesdale Action Partnership (TAP) and we’re hoping for a Tesco plastic bag grant,” said Mr Cokill.

“It’s a very keen group but it’s a group which does not run on its own and relies on support from the trust.”

Nature reserves in County Durham range in size from 500 acres to the size of an office.

Mr Cokill told councillors how the trust relied on other bodies to get funding and asked whether the town council wanted to play a

role.

“We would like to expand a range of things like practical volunteering and wildlife groups with more traditional talks on winter evenings and survey skills in the summertime,” he added.

“We also have watch groups to cover the seven to 12 age range and they provide a way of engaging with younger people.”

Otter piles, salmon runs and migratory birds in the upper dale were particular interest points attached to

the town, according to Mr Cokill.

Cllr Roger Peat said there were things around the town that could be done.

“There are bits of path still not right – that’s an opportunity,” he said.

“We have got the wildflower meadow on the upper Demesnes and on the

lower Demesnes we are looking at introducing wild flowers – but that’s at a very early stage.”

Cllr Richard Child, who also volunteered at Deepdale, said it was remarkable how much people had achieved at the site.

He added: “It would be good to get younger people involved – it was predominantly retired people but it has made a big difference.”

Cllr Kelly Blissett said it would be worth talking to the TCR Hub and Barnard Castle YMCA about youth involvement in trust projects.

Councillors agreed to give some thought to identifying potential wildlife sites and discuss the suggestions at a future meeting.