Exciting proposals for a new local nature reserve (LNR) have been put forward after the city council received backlash for mowing a nearby meadow.

The authority agreed to create it on land between Cotton Road and the River Stour in Wincheap, near Canterbury, last year.

It comes after furious environmentalists blasted the council last month for cutting grass near the riverside in Wincheap - where a controversial park and ride extension is planned.

Early plans for the nature reserve include a species-rich grassland, a wet woodland for nesting birds, an otter holt, two new ponds and log piles for reptiles.

The work requires funding of £50,000 - which is coming from the budget for the park and ride extension.

But, given this project is delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic, the management work cannot yet be carried out.

The city council has the power to formally declare the land as a LNR if it carries out public consultation on the proposed management.

It also needs approval from public body Natural England - but is not able to do so until suitable management for wildlife is in place.

The city council's chief executive Colin Carmichael said: "There is a lot of public interest in the various parcels of land around the section of the Stour through Wincheap.

"We want to reassure residents that we have not forgotten the plans for the LNR and have been looking at options for what we might be able to do there.

"There will be proper consultation on the management of the site in due course, but in the meantime, we look forward to discussing the wider maintenance issues along the river with some of the residents who expressed their concerns last month.

"We have already confirmed that cutting the Wincheap water meadow in May is not appropriate and will not happen in future years."

Following backlash about the cutting of the adjacent Wincheap water meadow, the council has said it will be arranging a meeting with local residents to discuss the maintenance of riverside grassland.

It says this is to ensure it is carried out in a "more sensitive manner".

The 16-metre buffer land - which helps control air, soil, and water quality - will be managed at the same specification as the rest of the water meadow site.

The wider area of land earmarked as the LNR will continue to be left as bramble, nettle and coarse grass until such time as the management work can take place.

Meanwhile, the council also intends to set up discussions with local residents behind a current petition calling on it to adopt a pollinator plan.

More than 600 people have signed the petition so far.

Petitioners are "very concerned" the city council's land management strategy pays "insufficient attention" to the needs of the bees and other pollinators in many of its parks, open spaces and public footpaths.

They claim "insensitive mowing regimes and overuse of herbicides" are responsible.

The authority says the aim of the discussions would be to see "what value there is" in developing a pollinator plan, or whether it may be possible for the council to revise some of its existing strategies.

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