I hope you have been taking the opportunity to get out in the glorious weather we’ve been having recently.

I want to thank all visitors who have adhered to social distancing and who have treated both the Broads and our staff with respect.

We have certainly seen a steady increase in the number of people having ‘staycations’ and local hotels, campsites and B&Bs are mostly fully booked. While we want everyone to enjoy their time in the Broads, we urge you to please continue visiting our landscape and local communities responsibly, avoiding crowded areas, practicing social distancing and taking your litter away with you.

Our Rangers have been kept very busy attending to incidents and undertaking checks in speeding hotspots. Please remember that you can contact Broads Control on 01603 756056 or Broads.Control@broads-authority.gov.uk if you would like to report speeding, poor behaviour or any other incident during your visit.

Here is an update on recent improvement and refurbishment works (you can find photographs of these items throughout the briefing):

• After several months of work and delays with our contractors due to lockdown, the moorings and path at our Acle Bridge site are now open for use. The toilets, car park and café remain closed, and waste bins will be provided this week. 

Please note and adhere to the temporary signage and fencing in place at the site. During autumn, we will seed a large area of riverside grass and install more permanent fencing to improve the appearance of the site, until then the site is predominantly open for moorings and basic access to the footpath. Electric charging points will be installed in late August/early September.
• Following our take over of Castle Staithe we are delighted to have opened the site as a 24-hour mooring after undertaking some temporary repairs to make it serviceable for the summer period. Although a small mooring of just under 30 metres, it provides a pleasant mooring space for small numbers of vessels on the upper Bure, near Caen Meadow in Wroxham.
• At the Beccles Marshes 24-hour mooring, a new path has been installed here and the photo below shows vessels moored alongside enjoying the refurbished facilities.
• At our Haddiscoe East de-masting mooring the site has been refurbished with all new timber and the path raised by 15cm, so that visitors will be able to use a path that it is less likely to flood during higher tides.
• We are also currently carrying out replacement of fixings at our Scare Gap emergency mooring for a period of approximately two weeks starting on Wednesday 5 August. The team will work on half the mooring at a time so there will continue to be room for one large or two smaller vessels to moor there for short periods.
• As part of our ongoing programme of water plant management in the Broads Executive Area, the marked channel through Hickling Broad has been checked for water plants. A few small patches were cut, mainly in and around the approach to Catfield Dyke. As a result, the whole channel is free of tall growing plants and access to the village is open. To help hirers, an additional marker buoy is being placed to clearly mark the approach to Catfield Dyke. Our plant cutter is now moving to the Wayford and Dilham areas where we will be cutting for approximately a week.

A three-year collaboration between the Broads Authority and Suffolk Wildlife Trust will see new wetland habitat created at Carlton Marshes Nature Reserve. 

The first mud has now started to be pumped into Peto’s Marsh at the junction of Oulton Dyke and the River Waveney. The work at Peto’s Marsh, which sits next to the River Waveney will use 20,000 cubic metres (approx.) of sediment from the Authority’s dredging work at nearby Oulton Broad to create approximately one hectare of new reedbed at river level. 

The new wetland will include reed beds and waterway pools, complementing the existing reed beds, open-water pools, dykes and ditches created by Suffolk Wildlife Trust. These habitats are loved by wildlife species such as dragonflies, fresh water snails, bitterns, common cranes, marsh harriers, avocets and lapwings.

Given that a few years ago the whole of Peto’s Marsh was ploughed and drained as marginal arable land, the transformation of this site into the Broads’ newest wildlife sanctuary and carbon store is amazing.

A new visitor centre is currently under construction, with plans for additional grazing marshes, viewing platforms and a new pontoon mooring for boats, that will transform the area into the gateway to the Southern Broads.

The Waterways Chaplaincy are expanding their work to the Broads. Angie Baldwin, an experienced chaplain, has moved into the area and been joined by Mike Cadman to establish a hub on the Broads. Both chaplains will have their own ‘patch’ to work as part of those communities but will also work across the whole area to try and provide the pastoral support, for which the chaplaincy is well known, to all who use the waterways.

They will look to recruit additional chaplains to provide a better coverage across the Broads and work to get to know those who live and work on and near the local rivers and Broads. Angie and Mike are delighted with the reception they have received from the Broads Authority and Norfolk Police which will enable them to target their pastoral work where it is most needed. If you see them around in their ‘gilets’ or in a boat with their banners please say hello.

More information: www.waterwayschaplaincy.org.uk

We have recently published our Annual Business Plan 2020/21 outlining this year’s Directorate work programmes, and the Broads Plan progress report for November 2019 - June 2020 highlighting recent actions by the Authority and partners to meet the commitments of the 2017 Broads Plan. Thank you to all who have contributed to these reports. 

On Friday 24 July with gratitude and fond memories we waved an emotional goodbye to our friend and colleague Sandra Beckett, as she retired from an outstanding length of service of 40 years at the Authority.

Sandra has been an exceptional Governance Officer and we shall all miss her hugely. Her 40 years with us have seen great improvements in the conditions in the Broads and big changes at the Authority, through which she has remained a calm and diligent influence on all around her.

Her knowledge and experience have proved immensely valuable in steering the Authority through challenging times. On behalf of all Authority members and the staff we are wishing her the very best in her retirement.

We are pleased that our friends at the Nancy Oldfield Trust, a charity which helps to get disabled and disadvantaged people out onto the water, has re-opened to visitors after lockdown and will be offering socially-distanced sailing and other activities afloat.

The Trust offers trips on its fleet of sailing, yachts, motorboats and canoes from its base at Neatishead, near Wroxham. It had to halt activities in March but welcomed its first visitors back from Monday.

Their staff have been busy introducing a series of measures to make the centre and its boats safe for visitors. The Trust relies on donations, large and small, to fund its activities and has lost significant income since lockdown began. It is particularly interested in hearing from Norfolk businesses and other groups and individuals who might be interested in supporting it.

More information: https://www.nancyoldfield.org.uk/

Finally, as many of you may know, the Authority unfortunately received the extremely sad news in early July that our dear friend and colleague Steve Wright from the Ranger team had passed away peacefully after facing a long illness.

Steve was a Ranger with the Authority for over 17 years, spending much of this time on the River Waveney and Oulton Broad. He was well-known for being a true gentleman of the Broads who would go above and beyond to help others both off and on the water. Outside of his role, Steve continued to be a huge ambassador for the Broads and shared a deep love for the landscape, wildlife and history of the area.

Everyone who has had the pleasure of meeting Steve can certainly agree that he was a fine example of what it takes to be a Broads Authority Ranger. All of his colleagues and friends at the Authority will miss him dearly and we hope you will continue to send your thoughts to Steves family and friends at this difficult moment in time.