The Moors – Environmental Issues

Environmental Issues
	The Moors and its associated wildlife are under constant pressure from man. Its wetland environment has unfortunately lost some of its natural character and associated biodiversity during the last 50 years. The town of Bishop’s Waltham has grown substantially and new housing estates have been developed close to The Moors. Water is also pumped from Hoe Pumping Station on the eastern edge of the site since its construction in the1940s.
A comparison of two aerial photographs from 1929 and one from the 1990s shows the spread of both Bishop’s Waltham & Waltham Chase to the south. It also shows the spread of woodland across The Moors and addition of Hoe pumping station can be seen on the right (east side) of The Moors in the later picture.


1st picture - 1929 (RAF photograph) 2nd picture - 1990s (Hampshire County Council)

New housing developments:
The latter part of the 20^th Century has seen increases in the number of houses close to The Moors nature reserve. This has inevitably resulted in many more visitors crossing the site. The picture was taken by a local volunteer David Young. Surface water run-off from properties and roads is also funnelled through the drains into The Moors, which as a result reduces water quality and invertebrate diversity in the affected spring-heads

The planned massive expansion of housing in South East England (860,000 new homes in the twenty year period 1996–2016), has potentially major consequences for water resources. In Hampshire, about 130,000 new homes are planned for this period. As a consequence a lowering of the water table and increased water pollution could occur. The government is encouraging life style changes and water efficiency in new homes to encourage water conservation, such as grey water recycling, but these are voluntary agreements. The use of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SUDS) is also being promoted to help treat surface water run-off through the creation of ponds and reedbeds in order to prevent flash floods into streams. Hampshire County Council and the Environment Agency hosted a Water in Hampshire Conference in March 2000 to debate these issues. For further information visit the following website: www.hants.gov.uk/environment/water