Cattle will graze at Icart for first time in century
A FIELD on Icart headland will be restored to how it was in past generations after planners granted permission to clear scrubland and create a new footpath.
The project will allow the La Societe Guernesiaise conservation herd to graze the States-owned land for between seven and 10 days each autumn.
Three objections were raised around clearing the vegetation and fears of damaging the site of special significance.
But in the planning report into the application by Agriculture, Countryside & Land Management Services, it said it was vital the project went ahead now or the situation would get worse.
‘The ecological value of the site will continue to decline and the bracken, bramble, gorse and blackthorn will continue to establish and out-compete the more delicate flora,’ it was stated in the planning report.
‘The fauna which rely on the native wildflowers will also be lost from the site. It is also likely that funding for the restoration of the site will not be available in the future should the project not go ahead.’
It was also noted that the headland was one of the last remaining pockets of coastal heathland habitat – one of the scarcest local habitats – but the dense scrub over-running it was a major threat to biodiversity.
Biodiversity education officer and La Societe herd section secretary Julia Henney said the use of coastal land had changed over the years and that extensive grazing on cliffs had largely stopped.
‘This project is a unique and exciting opportunity to redress that loss and protect the biodiversity which relies on coastal grasslands and heathlands,’ she said.
The planning report stated that no trees would be cut down.
With regard to the special significance status and change in character, the report said the work would restore the land to how it was for previous generations. Grazing was last recorded at Icart 100 years ago.
‘These cliffs are noted as being an important part of Guernsey’s landscape as well as being a continuous stretch of “non-urbanised” land which provides many species with a natural corridor and safe nesting, roosting and feeding sites,’ it said.
‘The major drawback is that they are currently largely abandoned grazing land and so scrub and bracken occupy land that was once diverse coastal grassland and heath.
‘It is hoped that these areas may be restored over parts of the cliffs in order to bring greater diversity of wildlife back.’
There was a concern raised that there was a conflict of interest because Environment Guernsey, which is the commercial section of La Societe Guernesiaise, had advised on the project, while La Societe manages the conservation herd which will graze the land.
The report noted that the works would be tendered, which meant Environment Guernsey would not gain financially from the project.
A new section of footpath will give walkers the choice to either carry on along the cliff path or travel through the area of grazing land.
An allowance of £50,000 has been made for the improvements under the airport redevelopment project. The project is part of environmental offset to compensate for the two fields used at the western end of the runway.
