Likewise it is a popular area for both residents and visitors from further afield due to the wildlife and landscape quality which has been recognised by the Borough Council in its designation under the Local Plan as an Area of Special Landscape Quality (ASLQ). Hayling Island is the seaside resort of Havant Borough, with two Blue Flag beaches on its five-mile southern coastal frontage (and a further flag for Northney Marina on the north of the Island in Chichester Harbour), and all the normal trappings of the great British seaside, including significant congestion for traffic using the only (single carriageway) road onto the Island.

 

The centre of Langstone Harbour is managed as a Reserve by the Royal Society for the Protection of Birds (RSPB). Land in the north west of the Harbour at Farlington Marshes is managed by Hampshire Wildlife Trust (HWT) as a Nature Reserve, attracting over 60,000 "green tourists" a year.

 

 

 

Brief History

Oyster fishing has been practiced on the Langstone Harbour shore of Hayling Island since Roman times. The site in its present form was developed following the opening of the Hayling Branch line on the London, Brighton and South Coast Railway in 1865, having a direct rail connection to the mainland markets.

 

The Victorian development comprised a series of lagoons, formed by embankments of London Clay enclosing parts of the intertidal area, topped by chalk, shingle and brickearth. Seaward the embankments were reinforced with timber palisades. The lagoons were filled by tidal overtopping of the embankments, with outflow regulated by sluices and wind pumps.

 

Following the First World War pollution and disease forced the closure of the fishery, and the site fell into dereliction. Being in deep water, the embankments eroded, the sluice gates collapsed and, by 1963 when the railway line was closed and the Council purchased the area for refuse disposal and highway purposes, the Victorian embankments consisted of little more than strips of shingle snaking across the tidal mud flats of the Harbour.

 

Two areas of marshland to the west of the former railway line were reclaimed with domestic refuse in the period to 1969, tipping then being abandoned. In 1974, when the Urban District Council lost its status as the Highway Authority and Havant Borough Council was formed, the route of the former railway, held for highway purposes, was transferred to Hampshire County Council. The adjacent reclaimed land and mud flats (including the former Oysterbeds) remained in Borough Council ownership.

 

 

 

A New Start

The Oysterbeds remained untouched until 1980 when a private company wishing to reintroduce the shellfish farming industry approached the Borough Council. Planning permission was given to reinstate the Victorian embankments, construction commenced in 1981 and placed new material (derived from building rubble) directly on top of the eroded shingle embankments. Drainage between the various lagoons was now to be achieved by including 600mm diameter steel pipes, with control structures at each end, into the new embankments. A total of 100,000 tonnes of material was imported until in 1982, rather belatedly, it was realised that the Planning Consent had erroneously quoted the permitted level as being 5 m above Ordnance Datum. It had been intended that the banks should have been at a level approximating to high tide (+5m above Chart Datum). The banks were thus some 2.7 m above the anticipated level.

 

After a period of claim and counterclaim the operating company ceased trading in 1987, before finishing works such as the placement of protective shingle to the seaward face of the embankments, and the placing of topsoil to landscape the site, had been completed, thus leaving the site overall in breach of the Planning Consent. The Borough Council as landowner was left with a dangerous legacy. Access by the public had became unrestricted for recreational use in the intervening years; however the new material, which had only been end tipped from lorries, consisted of an apparently firm crust that could overlie voids between large masonry blocks and was thus inherently unstable. Reinforcing rods and other metal waste contained in the rubble represented a hazard. Exposed to wind and wave action, the embankments eroded and quickly grew to present a very real danger to any members of the public walking upon them.

 

The sluices and flaps on the pipes that passed through the embankments were stolen and sold for scrap, giving rise to spectacular but deadly whirlpools as tides flowed and ebbed around the lagoon complex. The Council tried to control the risk to the public by erecting fencing and signs, but these were repeatedly vandalised.

 

A major civil engineering project was required and this was carried out between 1996 and 1997 with the intention of restoring the site not as active Oyster Beds but for nature conservation. Details of this award-winning project can be found on the page dedicated to the project >>

 

The new embankment profile as a result of the civil engineering works has provided excellent roosting facilities for wildlife, which it was feared would be displaced from the site, with the result that overall seabird numbers are up 20% on the numbers prevailing before the work started.

 

 

 

Local Nature Reserve (LNR)

As the work was progressing the Borough Council and the non-contractual partners began to see the scope for the creation of an LNR as part of a wider strategy of public access and nature conservation in Langstone Harbour. A circular route around the Harbour was suggested including upgrading the environmental appearance of key sites around the shoreline. The LNR would be designated by the Borough Council under Section 21 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949.

 

It had always been the Council's intention to manage the Oysterbeds area for nature conservation upon removal of the tipped builder's rubble, a management plan for this aftercare being one of the original Planning Conditions. The close working relationship established with the non-contractual partners enabled these ideas to be further developed and all involved worked in continued partnership towards the designation of the site as an LNR in order that its importance would be enhanced. A Management Plan for the LNR was produced, paid for by Hughes / Bull under the Landfill Tax Credit Scheme, and released for public consultation in November 1999. Following this consultation, designation as an LNR was made during the summer of 2000.

 

 

 

A Seal of Approval

Ironically, now that the project had been completed with no expenditure on the part of the Council, finance became available to enhance and maintain the site. One outcome of the revised layout was the colonisation of an island within one of the lagoons by Little Terns, an internationally rare seabird subject to the European Union's Birds Directive. As a result of the works one of the embankment walkways, previously constantly disturbed by visitors, became an island permanently surrounded by the tidal water of a saline lagoon, free from ground predators, and with a surface of small stones beloved of the Terns. In the summer of 1997 one pair of Little Terns discovered the island and raised two young; the following year two pairs raised five young; and in 1999 six pairs raised thirteen young. Set against a harbour-wide background of 91 pairs raising 24 young in the same period, it is obvious that the new habitats have been well received by this and other species. By 2002 over 120 pairs were nesting, but this number then declined and has only recently recovered.

 

The Council now joined with the County Council and the RSPB in promoting a scheme for funding under the EU Life-Nature 1999 programme for "Conserving Saline Lagoons and their Birds on Ten Natura 2000 Sites in England". This new partnership was successful in gaining 50% match funding for a four year rolling programme of enhancement and maintenance of the new saline lagoon (along with nine others in south and east England) to improve its attraction as a breeding habitat for these birds. This project ran until spring 2003 and much successful management was achieved as a result.

 

Enthusiastic local support has been offered by the "Friends of Langstone Harbour", a voluntary group set up in 1997 with the aim of protecting and enhancing the natural environment of Langstone Harbour. The Council, working with the Hampshire Wildlife Trust, have been able to fund over the past few summers the employment of a Warden to look after the site especially during the peak breeding season, and volunteers are always welcome to help in this task.

 

In 2007 further work was carried out to get the site ready for the expected arrival of the birds. This work was funded by an appeal by the Hampshire WildlifeTrust, but had only limited success due to predation. Further investigations are under way to determine to most sustainable way forward for this part of the site.

 

 

 

Awards

The project was recognised by the Engineering Council's "Best Practice in Environmental Management" Award 1998 and was declared a Millennium Product by the Design Council. Both awards reflected the innovative management approach to the project as well as the "win-win" outcome both for the parties concerned and for the environment.

 

 

 

Conclusion

The project has been an outstanding success from all aspects of the Council's involvement. A major public safety hazard has been successfully resolved in a method that saw significant environmental enhancement of the site at no cost to the Council, operated under an innovative management partnership. It has resulted in the development of long-lasting partnerships which continue to bear fruit as the site matures.