Hadleigh and Benfleet Marshes Scrub Clearance and Grassland Restoration Works

At Hadleigh Country Park we are undertaking a programme of scrub clearance to restore nationally important grasslands, find out why.

Posted on 13th September 2023

Find out why we are clearing scrub at Hadleigh Country Park in order to restore grasslands.

  • This is a nationally designated site, part of the Benfleet and Southend Marshes Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI)
  • It was once a well-established grassland supporting a variety of valuable plants and insects
  • During the last 25 years almost two million aces of grassland in the UK have been lost
  • The removal of scrub in this area is designed to protect rare plants and flowers and encourage new growth
  • In turn this flora will support the rare bee species and other insects also found at this site
  • These works are a part of a management plan agreed with Natural England (the government’s statuary body responsible for natural green infrastructure) which ECC is required to fulfil

Read more about Natural England.

Small Heath Butterfly on Wild Flowers by Andrew Adams
Bumblee at the Essex Country Parks by Andrew Adams

If you have any questions about these works please email: EEComms@essex.gov.uk

Images by Andrew Adams at the Essex Country Parks.

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