DRAFT
Turbary Common LNR
Management Plan
November 2010
1
Preliminaries
This management plan is based on the policies and principles set out in a number of documents. These are listed below with the relevant sections.
Bournemouth Vision 2026 - Sustainable Community Strategy (Clickhere)
Theme 4, Section 4.5.4.Improve the biodiversity of green spaces.
Corporate Plan (Clickhere)
Priority 1. Improving our environment.
Cultural Strategy (Clickhere)
Aim 5. Conserve, enhance and promote access to Bournemouth’s environment and heritage.
Leisure Strategy (Clickhere)
Paper 2. Parks,Gardens, Countryside and Open Space in Bournemouth.
Policy Statement J. Objectives J3, J4, J5, J7 and J 11.
Bournemouth District Wide Local Plan (Clickhere)
Section 3. The Natural Environment.
Green Space Strategy (Click here)
Nature Conservation Strategy(Click here)
Summary
This Management Plan is the third revision of the original Plan written in 1990. It sets out to describe and evaluate Turbary Common LNR and to prescribe a workable management programme.
While it is taken into account that the site has a high amenity and recreational value, the plan is geared towards habitat management whilst seeking to minimise the inevitable conflicts that arise on such sites.
The Management Plan is divided into three stages:
STAGE 1gives an overall factual description of the site, providing a general background on which to base a management policy.
STAGE 2is an evaluation of the site from an ecological as well as a cultural aspect. Management objectives are then discussed from both aspects.
STAGE 3describes the actual management requirements of the site and how these will be put into practise.
Preface
Since the last management plan revision in 2003, a considerable amount of work has been carried out on Turbary Common. This work has benefited both the wildlife and the people using the site.
Some of the main achievements during this period were:
Grazing
Installation of perimeter stock fence, access gates and water supply in 2004.
Introduction of pony grazing (Exmoors) in April 2005.
Introduction of cattle grazing (Shetlands) in November 2006.
Scrub management
Gorse control in compartments 5, 8, 11 and 12.
Birch and willow control in compartments 1, 3, 4, 5 and 11.
Bracken, ragwort and Japanese knotweed control
Continued herbicide treatment programme.
Monitoring
Habitat monitoring is ongoing and a National Vegetation Classification survey was carried out in 2003.
The livestock are monitored, particularly in respect of their diet and preferred forage areas.
Environmental Stewardship
A successful application was made for entry into Environmental Stewardship in 2008. Turbary Common is included in the scheme at the Higher Level Stewardship (HLS). Through the scheme, funding is available to carry out habitat management work and capital projects such as fencing.
Interpretation
A new interpretation board giving information about the wildlife of the common has been installed by the main access gate off Turbary Park Avenue.
Community Involvement
Various groups have been involved with practical conservation work including; a youth offending team, King’s High School, Oakmead College and the Friends of Turbary Common.
Contents
Stage 1 Description
1.1 General Information
1.1.1 Location
1.1.2 Land tenure
1.1.3 Map coverage
1.1.4 Photographic coverage
1.2 Environmental Information
1.2.1 Physical
1.2.2 Biological
1.2.2.1Habitat types
1.2.2.2Flora
1.2.2.3 Fauna
1.2.3 Cultural
1.2.3.1Previous land use
1.2.3.2Present land use
1.2.3.3 Education and research
1.3Present management
1.3.1Management for conservation
1.3.2Management for amenity
Stage 2 Evaluation and Objectives
2.1 Conservation Status
2.2 Evaluation of Features
2.2.1 Ecological Evaluation
2.2.1.1Primary Habitat
2.2.1.2Flora
2.2.1.3Fauna
2.2.2 Cultural Evaluation
2.2.3 Conflicts arising between Conservation and Recreation Interests
2.3Objectives of Management
2.3.1 Ecological
2.3.2Recreational
2.3.3Educational
2.4 Management Constraints
Stage 3 Prescription
3.1Working Compartments
3.1.1 Daws Avenue Bank
3.1.2 Fox Bank
3.1.3 Tussock Bog
3.1.4Coach Road Heath
3.1.5Old Orchard
3.1.6Dead Dogs Scrub
3.1.7Little Heath
3.1.8Overton's Heath
3.1.9Pine Plantation
3.1.10Bramble Patch
3.1.11Old Plantation Heath
3.1.12Winter Pond Heath
3.1.13Pottery Woods
3.1.14Amenity Area
3.1.15 FernheathValley
3.2 General items
3.2.1 Grazing
3.2.2Fire plan
3.2.3Perimeter gorse
3.2.4Dogs (Fouling of Land) Act 1996
3.2.5Dorset Urban Heaths Grazing Partnership (DUHGP)
3.2.6Environmental Stewardship
3.2.7Urban Heaths Partnership (UHP)
3.2.8Friends of Turbary Common
3.2.9Japanese knotweed
Appendices
STAGE 1 DESCRIPTION
1.1 General information
1.1.1 Location and Summary Description
Site Name : Turbary Common
District: Bournemouth
County : Dorset
Local Planning Authority : Bournemouth Borough Council
National Grid Reference : SZ 061 948
Area : 45 ha
Turbary Common is a small relic of the once extensive heathland that covered most of SE Dorset. It is located in the north-west part of the Borough of Bournemouth and is completely surrounded by urban development; both residential and industrial. (SeeMap 1).
The FernheathValley site lies to the north-east of Turbary Common and includes another small fragment of heathland habitat.
For the purposes of the Management Plan, the two sites will be considered as one area, all of which isdesignated Public Open Space (POS). (See Map 2 and Photo1). Turbary Common is designated a Local Nature Reserve (see Map 3 and Photo 2), the majority of which is designated as a Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and as a Special Area of Conservation (SAC). (See Map 4 and Photo 3).
1.1.2 Land Tenure
The whole area was purchased by the Borough of Bournemouth between 1932 and 1956 on a freehold basis.
It is given some legal recognition in that under the provisions of Section 22 of the Commons Act 1899, the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries consented to the Grant under the Public Health Acts 1875-1925 for the purposes of Public Parks and PleasureGrounds, of Turbary Common transferred from Lord Wimbome to Bournemouth Corporation providing the land be preserved in perpetuity by the Corporation for the purposes stated.
An area measuring 16' x 16' to the north of RiggsGardens was leased to Southern Electricity Board on 8 January 1974 with access and cabling rights for a term of 99 years from I January 1974.
1.1.3 Map Coverage
OS Sheet 1: 50000 - 195 Second Series 1987
OS Sheet 1: 10000 – SZ 09 SE
1.1.4 Photographic Coverage
Bournemouth Borough Council owns the copyright of aerial photography of the whole Borough undertaken in 1998. Further aerial photographs were produced in 2000 and updated in 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2008. The copyright of these is owned by Ordnance Survey.
1.2Environmental information
1.2.1 Physical
The geology of the site comprises Branksome sand and Parkstone clay of the Bracklesham group that is overlain by Plateau gravels. An area was used for tipping from 1950 to approximately 1968, the tip land being covered with gravel and topsoil.
1.2.2 Biological
1.2.2.1 Habitat Types (SeeMap 5).
The area is predominantly heathland, but activities such as tipping and tree planting have led to the creation of a variety of habitat types. An NVC survey was carried out in 2003
Dry Heath occurs on the highest part of the Common and on the dry, sandy slopes. Characteristically, the vegetation is dominated by heather Calluna vulgaris and western gorse Ulex gallii. The other predominant plant species are bell heather Erica cinerea and bristle bent Agrostis curtissii.
Humid and wet heath is found on lower lying areas where the water table is near the surface. Here the vegetation is dominated by purple moor-grass Molinia caerulea with cross-leaved heath Erica tetralix, heather and deer-grass Trichophorum cespitosum.
Valley Mire. Towards the eastern edge of the Common is a large, waterlogged area with a very rich and varied community of typical bog plant species including a number of less common species.
Scrub occurs over much of the area that was formerly tipland, with common gorse Ulex europaeus and bramble Rubus fruticosus agg. dominating throughout along with willow Salix spp. and hawthorn Crataegus monogyna.
Willow carr is represented as a narrow strip bordering each bank of the small stream that bisects the bog.
Woodlandis a minor component in the habitat structure of Turbary Common. There is a small area of semi-natural deciduous woodland between Turbary Park Avenue and the boundary of Elliott Road Industrial Estate, with a variety of tree species represented including silver birch Betula pendula and pendunculate oak Quercus robur. In the late 1960s, a programme of tree planting was initiated on the Common. The remaining evidence of this is a small pine Pinus spp. plantation bordered by a number of deciduous species, both native and non-native.
Grassland. Interspersed among the scrub are small areas of grassland. Most of this has been grazed to a short sward by ponies and rabbits as has the old amenity area towards the centre of the Common.
Open Water occurs in the form of shallow bog pools and as a small stream that flows through the bog. Two small ponds have been created, one towards the eastern edgeof the Common and one towards the western edge.
1.2.2.2Flora
The variety of habitat types on the Common support a diverse range of plant species. Typically, the areas of dry heath are botanically poor but the wet heath and bog areas have diverse plant communities with a number of interesting species including the insectivorous sundews Drosera rotundifolia and D. intermedia and the lesscommon pale butterwort Pinguicula lusitanica. Botanical information is concentrated almost totally on the vascular plants. Information is required for other plant groups such as mosses, lichens and fungi.
1.2.2.3 Fauna
One of the main features of the site's fauna is the presence of all six of Britain's reptiles. Dartford warbler Sylvia undataare present throughout the year with up to three pairs nesting, whilst many more common species have been recorded.
Of the invertebrate groups, most attention has been paid to the butterflies and dragonflies with good numbers of both recorded including some notable species.
1.2.3 Cultural
1.2.3.1 Previous Land Use
Records exist of the discovery of a Mesolithic site in 1970 (Lands 1980). A limited excavation was carried out by members of the South Wessex Archaeological Association over an area of approximately 100 square metres on the north side of the Common, yielding a number of flint artefacts.
The site was probably a hunters' base camp dating back to 4000 BC and could have belonged to the nomadic Maglemosion people who had spread from north-west Europe. The camp would have been of a temporary nature only; the flint artefacts recovered reflecting the gearing of the Mesolithic economy to the hunting of smaller mammals and birds and to fishing.
More recently, consent was given for an area of the Common to be used for the tipping of domestic refuse in 1950. The tipping was carried out in two phases.
(SeeMap 6). Tipping ceased sometime around 1970. The result of this activity has been the infilling of a shallow valley running west to east along the southern edge of the Common.
1.2.3.2 PresentLand Use
Turbary Common is designated Public Open Space (POS) with unrestricted pedestrian access.
Because of its situation in a predominantly urban area, the Common is easily accessible to a large number of people who use the area for a number of informal recreational activities. By far the most popular recreational activity on the Common is dog walking, but the semi-natural habitats provide scope for other activities such as bird watching and general adventure play, for which the woodland areas especially provide plenty of scope.
1.2.3.3 Education and Research
Turbary Common has provided an ideal resource for several higher education research projects for students at BournemouthUniversity but there is potential to increase the use of the site by school-age students.
Most educational projects have concentrated on the ecological aspects of the site, but there is scope to investigate the archaeology and present day cultural aspects.
Good biological records have been compiled for the Common over the years. These are being continually updated, particularly in respect of the botany, birds, butterflies and dragonflies.
A comprehensive National Vegetation Classification (NVC) survey was carried out in 2003 and a reptile survey was initiated in 2010.
The development of a borough-wide Environmental Advisory Team has enabledmore research work to be undertaken including a survey of the valley mire at Turbary Common with subsequent report. A grazing monitoring programme was initiated in 2009.
1.3 Present management
1.3.1 Management for conservation
Habitat management work began on Turbary Common in winter 1988. The work has been undertaken by the Countryside Officers, various contractors and voluntary groups such as Friends of Turbary Common and BTCV. The work has concentrated on the important heathland areas and has included projects such as scrub control, gorse coppicing, bracken control and Japanese knotweed eradication.
Grazing management using Exmoor ponies and Shetland cattle was implemented in 2005.
Management work on the Common is presently grant-aided through a Higher Level Stewardship (HLS) scheme. (See para. 3.2.6).
1.3.2 Management for amenity
In the 1970s an area of the Common was reclaimed from the heathland to provide amenity grassland and 3 tarmac tracks for model car racing. A fair also visited the site annually. More recently it was recognised that these activities were inappropriate for a Local Nature Reserve with Site of Special Scientific Interest designation. Therefore, the tarmac was removed and the amenity areaallowed to revert to acid grassland.
People are still very much encouraged to use the site and to appreciate its value as an important natural asset.
At various points around the perimeter, easy accessgates have been installed which allowpedestrian and mobility vehicle access but prevent motorcycles being ridden onto the site.
Main footpath routes are kept clear of encroaching vegetation.
A play area is provided in the south-west corner of the site.
STAGE 2 EVALUATION AND OBJECTIVES
2.1Conservation status
Heathland is a rare habitat, both locally and nationally. Because of this rarity, a large proportion of the remaining heathland is now afforded legal recognition by being notified as Sites of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). The heathland of Turbary Common was notified as a SSSI under Section 28 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 by the Nature Conservancy Council (now English Nature) on 8 July 1988. For the purposes of notification, the heathland of Turbary Common was included with an area of the nearby Kinson Common as one site. (See Map 4 and Photo 3).
The official description of the SSSI (as detailed on the Citation Sheet) is shown in Appendix 1.
As a member state of the European Community, the UK has agreed to, and is bound by, the EC Council Directive (Birds Directive) of April 1979 on the conservation of wild birds. The Directive particularly requires the government of member states to designate the most suitable areas for rare and migratory birds as Special Protection Areas (SPAs).
To this effect, most of Dorset's heathland SSSIs were proposed as SPAs in 1993 and subsequently classified as such in 1998. Turbary Common is included in this classification due to the presence of breeding Dartford warbler.
At the same time areas of the Dorset heathlands, including Turbary Common, were listed as wetlands of international importance under the Ramsar Convention of 1971.
Under the Habitats Directive of 1992 it was proposed to consider certain SSSI areas as Special Areas of Conservation (SAC). Most Dorset Heathland SSSI's were included for this proposed designation including Turbary Common and have subsequently been designated.
2.2Evaluation of features
2.2.1 Ecological Evaluation
Sites of high nature conservation value are rare in urban areas. This in itself imparts a considerable degree of importance upon this area of semi-natural open space that supports a wide range of wildlife, including nationally rare species. It is important that the management of the site aims to maintain and, wherepossible, enhance the existing biological diversity.
To help achieve these aims and to raise the general awareness of the site, Turbary Common was designated a Local Nature Reserve in 1996. (See Map 3 and Photo. 2).
Parts of the site are designated as Site of Nature Conservation Interest (SNCI). (See Map 4and Photo. 3).
2.2.1.1 Primary Habitat
Although a number of habitat types have been identified on the site, it is the heathland that is the most rare and important. The importance of this habitat has been recognised in the site’s designation as an SSSI and through its status as a Special Area for Conservation, a Special Protection Area and a Ramsar site. Represented on Turbary Common are areas of dry heath on the higher ground that are gradually replaced by humid and then wet heath as the ground becomes progressively more waterlogged towards the lower ground. Where the ground is permanently waterlogged, a valley mire system is evident which retains an interesting floral community with associated invertebrate populations.
2.2.1.2 Flora
Botanical records for Turbary Common are continually being updated and to date, surveys have revealed approximately 220 species including:
Bog asphodel Narthecium ossifragum
Bog myrtle Myrica gale
Round-Ieaved sundew Drosera rotundifolia
Oblong-leaved sundew D. Intermedia
Pale butterwort Pinguicula lusitanica
Lousewort Pedicularis sylvatica
Early marsh orchid Dactylorhiza incarnata
Heath spotted orchid D. maculata
Green winged orchid Orchis morio
Heath milkwort Polygala serpyllifolia
Star sedge Carex echinata
White beak-sedge Rhyncospora alba
Bog pondweedPotamogeton polygonifolius
A full list is shown at Appendix 2.
2.2.1.3Fauna
There has been considerable monitoring work in respect of the animal life of the site particularly with respect to the reptiles, birds, butterflies and dragonflies and damselflies.
All six species of British reptile occur on Turbary Common, namely:
Adder Vipera berus
Grass snake Natrix natrix
Smooth snake Coronella austriaca
Common lizard Zootoca vivipara
Sand lizard Lacerta agilis
Slow worm Anguis fragilis
Both Sand lizard and Smooth snake are nationally rare species. The presence of both on a site therefore afford it considerable importance. These species and their habitat are given special protection under Part 1 of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981 and via the UK's obligations to the Berne convention.
Over 70 bird species have been recorded to date with at least 30 of these breeding, including: