The Great Heath projects Poole

Project background

The Great Heath Living Landscape is an exciting partnership project led by the Dorset Wildlife Trust (DWT) and set up to develop an urban living landscape across South East Dorset. In April 2014 the project raised a total of £4.7 million to buy 20 lots (almost 1500 acres) of the Canford Estate for the benefit of people and wildlife.

The project aims to link two outstanding areas of natural heritage – the New Forest National Park to the Wild Purbeck Nature Improvement Area (NIA), with high quality access and interpretation to connect dozens of sites across the area.

Of the 20 lots purchased Borough of Poole has acquired three, with a combined area of 27.06 ha (67.32 acres) in the Broadstone and Merley area. This allows the creation of two new open spaces, Arrowsmith Coppice and Corfe Hills West, and the extension of a third, part of Delph Woods adjoining woodland already owned by the council.

Since the land purchase a fourth ‘Living Landscape’ has been created – Holes Bay Nature Park – as part of the network of protected land and habitat.

Project report

In Spring 2018 Dorset Wildlife Trust produced a Project Report summarising a successful end to a unique land purchase that has improved connections across and access to the countryside of south east Dorset; a copy is available to download below:

About the sites

It had been a very long time since these spaces had been managed in any way and they all required development work to enhance their value to people and wildlife:

New Site Signage

New signage has been installed as projects progress at the various sites. The first were those in Corfe Hills area, where the newly acquired Corfe Hills West, and sites already owned by Borough of Poole and the Amphibian & Reptile Conservation Trust, together with land acquired by Dorset Wildlife Trust, have been combined to create Corfe Barrows Nature Park.

At Corfe Hills West we installed new site name signs and an information panel beside Higher Blandford Road, while at Ashington Cutting the old site name sign was replaced. Next to Ashington Cutting, Dorset Wildlife Trust has installed an information board at their new site of Ashington Meadow. In the future some of the cattle that currently graze Canford Heath Nature Reserve will be grazing this meadow during the winter time.

In May 2017 the main entrances to Arrowsmith Coppice were marked by site name boards and information panels, describing the history, wildlife and future of this wildlife area; our gallery above shows the signs at Gravel Hill. The information panels were designed by local illustrator and designer Maria Burns.

As the final stage of The Great Heath project (Autumn 2018) new site name boards were installed on three sites – Bourne Valley, Ham Common and Talbot Heath – with a new information panel by the car park in the middle of Delph Woods. The artwork and design of this information panel again by Maria Burns.

Arrowsmith Coppice

More than 30 acres of new open space for Poole

Volunteers worked at Arrowsmith Coppice during early 2015 helped tackle the wall of Rhododendron with great success. The thickest part of the jungle of Rhododendron (in the south west corner) was cleared by contractor; they cleared around the stream to allow installation of a bridge to connect the lay-bys on Gravel Hill Road and Arrowsmith Road, encouraging public access to the site. 

The before & after pictures below show the results of their work viewed from the lay-by on Gravel Hill Road; the photo also shows the newly installed gravel ramp from this lay-by.

Corfe Hills West

More than 14 acres of new open space for Poole

During January and February 2015 trees were cleared by the side of the Roman Road in order to improve fire access, and vegetation cut back from beside tracks to ease public use.

In June 2015 dramatic improvements were made to access from Higher Blandford Road. What had been a very narrow track hemmed in by tall gorse and bramble is now a wide track allowing good public access and a route for Dorset Fire and Rescue Service (DFRS) to use in the case of a heathland fire. Gravel has been laid to improve the quality of access. As the clearance work had opened up the area a locked gate was installed to prevent illegal access; DFRS has a key to this lock.

Prior to this project the heath was obscured by a wall of gorse – now there is a lovely view across the site to Corfe Mullen (illustrated in the before-and-after photos below).

Delph Woods

More than 22 acres of woodland added to existing public open space

The new open space acquired at Delph Woods comes as three ‘packages’ along the western side of Gravel Hill, all adjacent to land that was already owned and managed by Borough of Poole; the combined area of new and existing land now totals 32.58 ha (80.5 acres).

During January & February 2015 birch and leggy gorse was cleared from a section of the woods and vegetation cut back from beside tracks to ease public use. Later on in the year further work was carried out to improve a track through the woods.

Holes Bay Nature Park

700 acres of inner harbour shoreline

Holes Bay Nature Park was created in March 2015 as part of the Great Heath project, bringing together Dorset Wildlife Trust with landowners, local communities and businesses to help protect an internationally important area of Poole Harbour.

In July 2016 twenty-one staff from MacDonald’s branches across Poole, Bournemouth & Southampton came together to carry out a litter pick along the western shore. This is part of their ‘Love Where You Live’ campaign to help look after the local environment. They will be carrying out regular summer litter picks in this area of Holes Bay from now on, and in the winter time will help manage the scrub to aid a colony of the rare Small Blue Butterfly and rare plants.

MacDonald’s sponsored two of the new information boards along the shoreline and on 30th August 2016 Poole’s Mayor, Councillor Xena Dion, unveiled the board that stands on the site closest to Holes Bay MacDonald’s, making a speech extolling the importance of the Poole Harbour wildlife and the value of working in partnership to protect it. After the unveiling MacDonald’s staff from branches in Poole, Bournemouth and Southampton carried out another litter pick along the bay, helped by two children.