THE Swains Lane Nature Reserve (SLNR) is about to celebrate its tenth anniversary – and a meeting has taken place there which should ensure it continues to flourish into the next ten years at least.

The small team of volunteers who care for the area can look forward to receiving assistance, advice and help with funding through the Blackdown Hills Natural Futures (BNHF) project.

This Blackdown Hills AONB Partnership initiative benefits from Heritage Lottery funding and aims to support community environmental projects in its area.

Enquiries about the possibility of supporting a project in Wellington, on the doorstep of the AONB, had led to SLNR.

As owners of the land, Taunton Deane Borough Council had no objection to the proposal and its role in maintaining the reserve would be unchanged.

Visiting the nature reserve for the first time recently, BHNF manager James Maben said: “This is exactly the kind of project that we like to support.

“We’re not aiming to come in and take over but we can offer guidance and advice on who to approach for expert technical help, and assist with funding applications.

“We can help with organising events to get local people involved and have successfully worked with a number of other similar projects in the Blackdown Hills area.

“I can see that a lot of hard work has already gone into managing the reserve and we are excited about working with the reserve volunteers over the coming years.”

John Morton, co-ordinator of the SLNR volunteers group, felt it was a timely meeting. He said: “We’re now in the position of having largely completed the reclamation project.

“With the need to create a new long-term management plan, this is a very good time for fresh input.

“James and his organisation would seem to be just what we’ve been looking for and I’m very optimistic about the proposed partnership.

“If it leads to a greater degree of collaboration between groups involved with environmental projects in the town, that will be even better.”

It was agreed that a small working party would meet with Mr Maben after Easter, to discuss the best way to proceed.

SIMON RATSEY