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Land returned to sea for habitat creation

BBC Five newly installed large concrete pipes sit under a footpath which passes over some tidal mudflats. The construction allows water to pass under the raised path.BBC
The land was claimed from the sea after World War Two

Agricultural land is being returned to the sea in a scheme funded by the government.

The current defences at Buston Links near Alnmouth in Northumberland are being breached to extend the coastal wetlands there.

It is hoped it will create extensive tidal mudflats which will attract breeding waders such as redshank, curlew and lapwing.

Landscape manager Iain Robson said: "We are just restoring something which has been lost for a very long time."

An area of dunes with an abandoned stone barn in the distance. A dyke is in the forefront of the picture with a black dog to one side. Channels of muddy water cut through the grassland.
This area will gradually develop into tidal mudflats

The land is part of the Northumberland Coast National Landscape but owned by Northumberland Estates, which is overseeing the project.

The £38,500 cost of the work is mostly funded by the Department of Environment, Food & Rural Affairs (Defra) through its Farming in Protected Landscapes Programme.

The scheme focuses on the replacement of an old culvert which will enable the creation of extended areas of both saltmarsh and freshwater habitat. 

Mr Robson said only the "very high tides" will inundate the area.

"The sea will extend over the area briefly and then will retreat, but that coming and going will create a completely different landscape."

An area of dunes has a muddy track passing through it with a raised bed of earth. To the right is an orange plastic temporary fence.
Access along a bridleway is being maintained throughout the work

A bridleway which forms part of the Northumberland Coast Path will be raised above the flood level.

To carry out the work, large machines will be on site during February but access for the public will be maintained.

A yellow sign reads: "Warning. Construction traffic." It sits in vegetation alongside a very wet and muddy track.
The construction work should be finished by February

Mr Robson said: "It'll look a bit brown and awful at first, but after a while it'll transform into a lovely bit of really important coastal habitat.

"The land is very marginal there so we're not taking it out of food production, we are just returning it to how it was before."

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