LAND AT DEPARTING GRIMSBY INDUSTRIAL GIANT EARMARKED FOR NEW WETLAND BIRD RESERVE

The Novartis site sits on the edge of the Humber Estuary 

A NEW 35-acre wetland bird reserve is set to be created on the South Bank of the Humber.

It will be developed on land around the site of the 220-acre Novartis chemical works, on the outskirts of Grimsby, when the multinational pharmaceutical company bids farewell at the end of this year.

To be known as Novartis Ings, it will be a sister site to the Cress Marsh project in nearby Stallingborough.

This new reserve will benefit from being adjacent to the Pyewipe mudflats - one of the UK’s most important sites for feeding and roosting waders of numerous species including curlew, golden plover, lapwing, dunlin, redshank and avocet.

Like Cress Marsh, it will be a “mitigation site” provided to compensate for wildlife habitat likely to be lost to make way for future industrial development nearby.

North East Lincolnshire Council’s Ecology officer Rachel Graham has been responsible for the development of Cress Marsh and is delighted at the prospect of this second site.

Says she: “When you look at what has been achieved at Cress Marsh, its scale and size and the bird and wildlife we are attracting, it makes the prospect of developing Novartis Ings extremely exciting,” 

Novartis Grimsby site head, Ian Johnson, said when the idea was raised it was readily accepted as a way in which the company could leave a legacy of opportunity.

He comments: “Clearly the day that we say goodbye for the final time, after 70 years in Grimsby, will be an extremely emotional one for many, who have enjoyed a lifetime’s career here.

“We did not want to simply leave without leaving a legacy, a gesture that would remind others of our time here."

Thanking Novartis, NELC leader Cllr Philip Jackson, says: “The opportunity for us to develop this wonderful site on the banks of the Humber is great and we look forward to seeing it progress."

Unfortunately, because of shortage of staffing resources, Novartis Ings  is unlikely to be open to the public in the same way as, say, the RSPB reserves at Frampton and Freiston, both near Boston, but bird-monitoring and recording services are likely to be offered by specialists from organisations such as the Lincolnshire Bird Club.

It is understood the overall management will be by the council.

The site covers some 220 acres in total

                                                         

As this sign indicates, Novartis is already mindful of its responsibilities to wildlife

                                      

Redshank - one of many wading bird species set to benefit