Ludham's Buttle Marsh peat restoration scheme approved

The Broads Authority’s plan to 'rewet' Buttle Marsh, near How Hill, has been given the green light by the authority. 

Buttle Marsh in Ludham, which will be 'rewet' (Image: NQ archive)

The scheme will mean more water will be retained on the land at Ludham, rather than running into the nearby River Ant.

It comes at a time when the Broads are struggling with a prolonged period of extremely high water levels, as a result of recent downpours.

Areas like Potter Heigham and Horning, not far from Ludham, were some of the worst affected places in the county last month.

Boaters next to How Hill (Image: James Bass/Newsquest) (Image: James Bass/Newsquest)

A recent meeting of the authority approved a series of works on a 5.6 acre area of the marsh, almost the size of three football pitches. 

These include creating a new sluice, a new ditch and a series of culverts, which will help the marsh store excess water in the winter months. 

High river levels, particularly during this season, have become a growing problem on the Broads. One of the areas where problems have been reported is at nearby Ludham Bridge. 

A rare bittern (Image: copyright citizenside.com) (Image: copyright citizenside.com)

Buttle Marsh, which is already a nature reserve, takes its name from a traditional local term for a bittern and the authority hopes the project will help create habitats for the rare bird. 

Another major element of the scheme is to create conditions which will, over the course of many years, allow for the build-up of peat. 

Currently, large amounts of deep peat soils in Norfolk are drained for agriculture, releasing greenhouse gases that have been stored in it. 

The authority hopes that peat-building conditions will be established at Buttle Marsh within five years, helping to capture carbon.