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Halkyn Mountain Sustainable Management Schedule

Published: 14/07/2017

Flintshire County Council’s Cabinet will be asked to note a collaborative initiative at Halkyn Mountain and support the grant application to Welsh Government’s sustainable management scheme. The purpose of the sustainable management scheme is to support collaborative landscape scale projects to improve the resilience of our natural resources and ecosystems in a way that also delivers benefits to farm businesses and rural communities. Following a successful expression of interest, Welsh Government has invited an application for Halkyn Mountain Common. Halkyn Mountain is a unique 2000 acre common, designated a Special Area of Conservation (SAC), for its wide range of habitats. It has been grazed for centuries and has been heavily mined for lead, leaving fascinating industrial remains strewn across the open landscape. Management of the mountain is challenging. Recreational pressures, dogs and traffic have contributed to the decline in the number of animals put out to graze which leads to significant scrub encroachment. Flintshire County Council’s Cabinet Member for Streetscene and Countryside, Councillor Carolyn Thomas, said: “Since 2008, when a strategy was devised for Halkyn Mountain and a vision formed to not only conserve the outstanding cultural heritage, but also ensure the common is effectively grazed to fulfil its ecological potential, the Council, along with other organisations, has been working to make this vision a reality. “This exciting project will put us on the right path to achieving that vision. Submission deadline for the grant application is 1 September and the proposed scheme will run from 1 January 2018 to 31 March 2021.”