RHONDDA CYNON TAF ACTION FOR NATURE PLAN
Urban Habitats in RCT
Most people in the County Borough live in an urban environment. Although countryside may be close-at-hand, most of us live in terraced streets and housing estates, with tarmac roads, small gardens, schools, factories, supermarkets, playing fields and allotments. Here, wildlife is sometimes less obvious, but it can be fostered and encouraged to enrich and benefit all of us in our daily lives.
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And there is a surprising amount of wildlife in our urban areas, in part, because most of us live close to a very biodiverse countryside. We are rarely further than a brisk 15-minute walk from an area of superb valleyside ffridd, woodland, rhos pasture or grassland. Many settlements are on rivers or streams, which provide natural corridors for wildlife as well as habitat for species such as otter. There are also wildlife refuges on road verges, or embankments and in parks, gardens, and other open spaces. We are particularly well endowed with urban tree cover. This close relationship between our towns and villages and the high quality, biodiversity rich landscapes surrounding them is a feature of RCT, but is unusual elsewhere.
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Urban areas also provide important habitats for some species, such as hedgehogs, bats, house martins and swifts. They provide most people with their first introduction to local wildlife, whether it is the dawn chorus or an owl hooting at night, ducks on the river or butterflies in the park. Many actions relating to urban areas are set out in the How Can I Help? Section, the objective for this Action Plan is to identify more strategic and technical actions to support wildlife across our urban areas.
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There are some specific urban habitats that are important in Rhondda Cynon Taf and some urban species where particular actions are required.
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Sustainable Drainage for Park Lane School
When it rains on hard surfaces, especially on sloping ground, the water sheets off and can cause localised flooding and damage. Where rain falls on natural ground, especially if there are a mix of plants with roots of different depths, the water is slowed down and more of it is able to infiltrate into the soil.
Engineers identified a drainage issue at Park Lane School, Aberdare and their suggestion was to create a Sustainable Drainage system (SUDS) instead of trying to pipe the water away. There was space between the school and the park for a large shallow bowl to be created which could store the water in times of surface water flood. The shape was created to allow the grassland to be managed with ‘cut and collect’ machinery and allow the area to be restored as rhos pasture.
To aid this process thousands of locally grown devil’s bit scabious plants have been added. These plants are an important part of the lifecycle of the rare marsh fritillary butterfly. In years to come, this site could be an important drainage feature for the school, an area on their doorstep for outdoor learning and play and a biodiversity asset as well.