Proposed Maintenance On Chorleywood Common

The following describes the proposed winter work on Chorleywood Common. The extent and location of the work will very much be dependant on weather conditions, but it is hoped that the majority of the work will be completed by the spring. Members of the Friends of the Common  and Chorleywood Golf Club will assist Parish Rangers in some of the work being carried out.

WINTER WORK BEING CARRIED OUT ON CHORLEYWOOD COMMON

Fire Rides

As part of the Common Management Plan of the site the Parish Council will be carrying out secondary thinning of the trees within these areas of woodland.

Unhealthy, crowded, misshapen and non-specimen trees will be removed to promote the healthy growth of remaining specimen trees.  The result of this will provide future generations of healthy diverse woodland.

The added light levels gained by the thinning process will promote the growth of ground flora within these areas and an under storey of next generation trees will emerge.  This will increase with available habitat for nesting birds, mammals and the invertebrates and plants they rely on for food adding to the biodiversity of this valuable site.

May Bushes

This area is sited on the south facing slope on calcareous soil.  Its proximity to Larks Meadow, a prime chalk grassland habitat, rich in rare wild flowers, of similar geology, leads us to believe this area could easily be returned to the chalk grassland it once was before it was reclaimed by scrub woodland when grazing ceased Post War. 

As this site is being managed to promote nationally scarce area of unimproved grassland our intention is to remove the scrub from this prime location and allow the regeneration of wildflower rich grassland.  Our hope is to encourage the diversity of plants and associated wildlife seen on Larks Meadow.

Golf Club Playing Area

A number of dangerous and misshapen trees have been identified by the Green Keeper of Chorleywood Golf Club. As custodians of the land it is the Parish Council’s responsibility to ensure the Health and Safety of visitors to the site is maintained.  Therefore these trees have to be removed.

A number of trees have also been identified over nationally rare acid grassland.  It is also the Parish Council’s responsibility to conserve this valuable diminishing habitat.  These trees will be thinned out to allow sufficient light levels to reach the grass promoting its growth and conserving its health. A few specimen trees will be retained to promote bio-diversity and provide additional habitat for this area.

Christchurch Pond

This pond contains nutrient rich water. These nutrients promote the rapid growth of Duckweed which has covered the pond with a blanket mass of prolific foliage.  The result of this has been reduced light levels within the pond; this has prevented the growth of sub aquatic plants. The pond and its inhabitants rely on these plants to provide much of the dissolved oxygen within the water which is necessary for the life to flourish and prevent stagnation of the pond.

Many of the nutrients are reaching the pond via a drain from Rickmansworth Road.  The Parish Council’s intention is to create a bio-filter in the form of a reed bed, in front of drains outlet at the pond.  The plants within the bio-filter should absorb and use many of the nutrients before they reach the pond.

The aim of this is to reduce available nutrients to the duckweed, therefore promoting the growth of sub aquatic plants, increasing dissolved oxygen levels and bio-diversity within the pond.

Sladys Pond

It is evident, from the prolific growth of Duckweed that the nutrient levels are increasing within this pond.  Duckweed present in a small quantity in a pond is acceptable, however if nutrient levels are high and its growth remains unchecked it severely reduces light levels available to sub aquatic plants. This can lead to a total lack of said plants. These sub aquatic plants supply dissolved oxygen to the water, ensuring the health of the pond and it’s inhabitants. Lack of oxygen in the water can cause it to stagnate and become devoid of life.

The nutrients that Duckweed thrives upon are stored and released by a layer of silt in the bottom of the pond. To reduce the nutrients available to the Duckweed and prevent its detrimental effects we intend to remove the silt from this pond. This should be done over a period of years as removing all of the silt in one go could be more damaging to the pond than helpful.  One third of this ponds silt is to be removed this winter, thus reducing nutrients and the vigour of the Duckweed.  This should allow the remaining plants to grow more readily increasing oxygen levels and prevent stagnation of the water. The result will be improved biodiversity and conservation of wildlife currently reliant on this pond.

Top Common Ponds

A healthy pond should have around a third of it’s area as open water to benefit wildlife reliant on it. The growth of marginal and aquatic plants in these ponds over time has crept into their centres reducing the area of open water available. If allowed to continue unchecked their growth will slowly choke the pond. This could result in them turning into boggy ground and drastically reduce their wildlife value.  Because of this we intend to crome out some of the plants within these ponds to maintain sufficient areas of open water. This will promote their wildlife value and biodiversity and help to conserve them as a valuable habitat.