We are proposing to continue restoration works at the Manx BirdLife Point of Ayre National Reserve in order to provide a valuable site for both wildlife and visitors.
This includes: the rebuilding of a gravel bund to screen people from the lake and prevent disturbance of the wildlife; creating ponds to provide new habitat; moving existing spoil piles to add new islands providing valuable nesting habitat in the spring and safe roosting places for the rest of the year. There will be no planting on the newly exposed areas with vegetation being allowed to establish naturally.
i) Pond excavation Two ponds (approx. 350m2each) to be created as shown in Drawing 02. This will require moving existing piles of waste aggregate which is to be used in ii) & iii). The spoil piles consist of sand/gravel to a height of 2m and were previously placed by the trackside for this purpose. A third, smaller pond (290m2) will be excavated to the south. The ponds will have a shallow sloping edge on the trackside. The ponds to have a depth of water 1-1.5m at the deepest point. The water table is approx. 1-1.5m below track level so to achieve this will require excavating to a depth of 2-3m.
ii) Bund repair The gravel bund alongside a 40m stretch of the track shown on Drawing 02, which was part of the early restoration works, has eroded away to around 1.2m in height or is nonexistent. This is to be built back up to a continuous bund of around 2m in height using the sand and gravel from the pond creation. The base of the bund cannot extend further onto the track therefore it needs to be built up on the lakeward side. Material from the aggregate piles is to be used to extend the shore of the lake further into the water to allow for the extended bund.
iii) New islands All remaining spoil is to be used to create new islands, an indication of which is shown on the map. Islands are to have gently sloping sides, sinuous shape with bays and scallops on the eastward side. The surface height of the islands is to be level with the existing adjacent peninsula, approx. 0.5m above water level. The size and extent to the new islands will be determined by the amount of spoil available. The existing peninsula is to be cut off by a new channel, deep enough to retain at least 1m depth of water yearround. The ground immediately south of the peninsula is to be lowered to become wet and the spoil used in the new islands.
Drawing 02 also shows an indicative position of a future viewing facility. This may be in the form of a bird hide or viewing screen. The mention of it here is for information only and this is purely indicative of where it might be sited. The landscaping works in this application are to be done irrespective of whether a future viewing installation goes ahead. The planning application for this facility will be made at a future date.
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Source & Provenance
Official reference
21/00929/B
Source authority
Isle of Man Government Planning & Building Control
