Power staff help at holt

Volunteers from Staythorpe Power Station are helping to restore an overgrown nature reserve.

The workers from the station’s permanent staff spent a fortnight clearing parts of Hawton Holt off Hawton Road, Newark, that have been neglected for six years.

The work is being paid for thanks to about £20,000, administered by Newark Town Council, from Nottinghamshire County Council’s Building Better Communities scheme.

Leaflets advertising the holt will be sent to community groups and schools.

The scheme will link with the redevelopment of neighbouring Sconce Hills Park being led by Newark and Sherwood District Council.

The money will also buy interactive display boards and pay for an ecological study of flora and fauna.

npower, the company building and operating the new £660m gas-fired station at Staythorpe, allows its staff to volunteer for projects that benefit the community.

The company has taken on about 70 staff so far who will operate the station once built.

They are undergoing training but were offered the chance to help at Hawton Holt, which will open to the public from September.

In addition to being used for school and college nature studies, allotment-holders there can harvest willow for canes.

Families will also be encouraged to make use of the holt.

The Magnus Church of England School has expressed a strong interest.

The Staythorpe team has largely been clearing a pond and the board walks laid when the holt was created as part of Newark Harvest project in 2003.

The 20-month project, awarded £87,000 from the National Lottery and councils, aimed to promote allotments and healthy living.

About £50,000 was spent on staff wages, and £25,000 was committed for work at the holt.

The scheme collapsed when a community-led management team folded.