IT’S going to be a busy few months for 10 Villages Conservation Group.
The volunteer group, which covers the Denby Dale parish, will be working to increase the area’s great-crested newt population.
And the team will be attempting to remove Himalayan balsam, a tenacious, invading weed from a canal side at Lower Putting Mill, near Denby Dale, on July 13 and August 10.
Andy Wickham, Denby Dale Parish Countryside Project Officer who helps co-ordinate the work of 10 Villages Conservation Group, said: “It grows up to 6ft high and it out-competes native species and wipes them out.
“Thankfully you can pull it out of the ground. It’s very hard to get rid of it completely because of the seed bank it leaves in the ground, but we’ve reduced it by over 50% so far.”
The team will also be continuing its Great Crested Newt Link Project to increase populations of the protected species at the Pennine Estate, Scissett, and in the grounds of Shelley College.
10 Villages will be working on the project by digging, building and maintaining ponds along the Kirklees Light Railway which links the two sites, on September 14, October 19, November 9 and December 14.
Mr Wickham said: “We’re hoping by producing more wetlands and tinkering with the habitat the two separate colonies will be linked and it will turn into one more viable colony.”
The group, which takes its name from the 10 main settlements within the parish, will also be replacing footpath steps at Riding Wood, Clayton West, on June 8. The 13 wooden steps were badly damaged during last year’s heavy rain.
The volunteers will be finishing work on fencing and laying mulch to protect plants at Kaye’s Millennium Green, Clayton West, on May 18.
10 Villages Conservation Group is looking for new volunteers.
For more information contact Andy Wickham, Countryside Officer, Council Offices, Commercial Road, Skelmanthorpe, HD8 9DA, 01484 222960, 07773 386550, or email andy.wickham@kirklees.gov.uk .
