National Trust withdraws Sherborne lakes plan

The National Trust has abandoned its plan to rewild the lakes on the Sherborne Estate.  They had planned to dig scrapes and scatter fallen trees by the lakes to change the character of the area to “a more diverse landscape with areas of occasionally inundated land, resulting in wetland habitat creation”.  Local residents have complained that the Trust had failed to dredge the Georgian ornamental lakes and was destroying a cherished national heritage landscape through “managed decline”.

The plans were opposed by the Gardens Trust, Gloucestershire Garden and Landscape Trust, Sherborne District Council and the district council’s senior diversity officer.  Faced with this opposition, the Trust has finally backed down and is seeking a contractor to dredge the lakes next summer.  However it has not ruled out the possibility of putting forward a revised proposal at a later date.

Photo: The Times