Temporary closure of the reserve
Unfortunately, we have had to make the difficult decision that
from THURSDAY 3RD NOVEMBER TO FRIDAY 25TH NOVEMBER
INCLUSIVE the reserve will be CLOSED ON WEEKDAYS to ALL visitors.
The reserve will be fully open from 9am to 5pm on Saturday
and Sunday for all visitors during this temporary closure with membership access as normal. The gates will be completely locked at dusk on Sunday.
We hope that on revisiting the reserve since its closure in
February that you have noticed some of the many improvements that have been
made to the different habitats around the reception hide and the south end of
the reserve. We are sure that you can appreciate that some of these changes
have been brought about by the very nature of this operational site.
In recent weeks you will probably have noticed that some
more contractors are working on the site. These are to start the work on the
new filter bed facility within the treatment works, to put in a new drain
around D reservoir and to dredge north lagoon. Other work that has been going on
during the last couple of weeks, but less in sight of the public, is that we
have begun to re – instate the network of paths through D woods.
Parts of these schemes are now moving back to areas around O
reservoir and as such require the movement of a number of heavy duty vehicles
around O reservoir, along and across the perimeter of the treatment works, so
directly impacting our access road and car park. This means that the safety of
visitors is at risk and therefore we have made the decision to close during weekdays
to ALL unaccompanied visitors.
We anticipate that this temporary closure will only be for
the period stated but we will need to review working patterns and public safety
before we intend to re-open after 25th November.
By this date we hope that the footpath to Watton nature
reserve hide will be in use, allowing visitors views across to Watton where
pink footed geese, pintail, flocks of roosting curlew and lapwing have all been
seen recently. Also in a few weeks, we anticipate that we will be near to approaching
completion on the paths and habitats that make north marsh such a special place
for many of our visitors.
We thank you for your understanding and patience and hope
that you will enjoy visiting at the weekends and experiencing what Tophill Low
has to offer.
Please keep looking at our social media posts for updates.
Thank you
The reserve team – Richard, Amy & Margaret
