Less able people will soon have greater access to one of the UK’s most stunning wildlife reserves, thanks to a new initiative between HBPW, the international service organisation Rotary and a conservation charity.
Members of Retford Rotary Club have agreed to support Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust’s goal to construct a new 100 metre boardwalk at the Idle Valley Nature Reserve north-west of the town on North Road.
It will run from the visitor centre into part of the reserve, providing greater access for wheelchair users and other ambulant disabled people.
Paul Withers, HBPW’s Managing Partner and an Assistant District Governor with Rotary, said: “As a company we are eternally aware of the continuing need to be socially responsible so, when something worthwhile presents itself, and it is an area in which we can make a real difference, then it is, to coin a phrase, a no-brainer.”
As a result of the three-way dialogue, Retford Rotary will raise the necessary funds to pay for materials for the project, whilst HBPW has agreed to commission a topographical survey and employ the facilities of its civil and structural engineers to design and detail the boardwalk. It should be open by September.
Idle Valley Nature Reserve is part of the Idle Valley Project area, managed by Nottinghamshire Wildlife Trust – a beautiful 450-hectare network of lakes, wetland, grassland and scrub. The reserve also includes the 300 hectare nationally designated Sutton and Lound Site of Special Scientific Interest – one of the largest in the county.
Paul added: “The area designated for the boardwalk is covered in willow, which is a copseable material, in that it continues to grow back even when pruned to the ground. Rotary Club members have already played their part in starting to bring it under control and work continues.
“This spectacular wetland site is the size of 600 football pitches and is one of the largest of its type in the East Midlands, so I am delighted that we are playing our part in opening it to a wider ‘audience’, specifically the less able.”