Plans to revive saltmarsh habitats on River Wear are given green light

Plans for a project aiming to “protect and enhance” saltmarsh habitats along the river Wear have been given the green light.

- by Chris Binding

Sunderland City Council's planning department has approved an application for two stretches of the riverside, including a site near the Claxheugh Rocks, South Hylton and Baron's Quay in North Hylton.

Applicant Groundwork North East and Cumbria lodged a bid last year seeking permission to install 'brushwood fascines', or bundles of cut branches, fixed with 'chestnut stakes' along parts of the riverbank.

The plans are part of a wider ecological project 'Restoring Meadow, Marsh and Reef' (ReMeMaRe) that aims to "reverse centuries of decline of our priority estuarine and coastal habitats."

In Sunderland, the project aims to protect and enhance intertidal habitats and to allow for the potential expansion of existing saltmarsh.