Plants and shrubs 'need boost'

Plants and shrubs 'need boost'

A plan to build a fence to stop sheep wandering has been rejected

Plans to revive plant life in a Lake District site have suffered a setback, according to English Nature.

It wanted to restore a heather moorland and other environmentally-friendly areas in Cumbria.

But there is now "disappointment and concern", following the refusal by a government planning inspector to give the go-ahead for a temporary fence between Caldbeck and Uldale.

English Nature wanted segregation to prevent large numbers of sheep from Uldale common moving onto existing grazing land.

The organisation said heathers, shrubs and tiny mosses that still exist on the sparse soils have been overgrazed by increasing numbers of sheep on the fells.

Dr Andy Clements, of English Nature, said: "We are very disappointed that the planning inspector believes the short term visual intrusion of the fence outweighs the longer term boost to wildlife."

A five-mile fence had been proposed to divide Uldale Fell from Caldbeck Fell, so sheep brought in to replace those lost during the foot-and-mouth crisis could learn the limits of their territory.

But the Open Spaces Society (OSS) and Friends of the Lake District opposed the fence because said it would prevent people from enjoying the upland Lake District.