Creating a community-led masterplan to celebrate and invest in our wetland parks.
About the Wetland Arc
The River Great Ouse meanders through the north of Milton Keynes where we manage 355 hectares (about 500 football pitches) of wetlands, lakes and floodplain meadows, known as the Wetland Arc.
The landscape is made up of Tombs Meadow and Millfield, Stony Stratford Nature Reserve, Ouse Valley Park, Floodplain Forest Nature Reserve, Stanton Low and Linford Lakes Nature Reserve.
This beautiful landscape has great potential for nature to thrive and for people to enjoy green and blue spaces for good wellbeing.
Improving Access
What makes the Wetland Arc challenging for accessibility?
We will be working with our panel of Access Ambassadors to find out. We want to understand how we can improve parkland infrastructure, wayfinding, footpaths and interpretation to improve the visit experience and connectivity of the landscape.
Space for Nature
Our Nature Services team and conservation volunteers work hard to provide habitats for nature across our linear parks network. Through the Wetland Arc project we will better understand where species and habitats can be found across the landscape, and work with nature to provide valuable improvements for species recovery.
We will create an online Biodiversity Hub which will present information about species and habitats with The Parks Trust estate, which will be available to researchers, students, developers and the public.
Get Involved
Get involved with the project by taking part in our Trinity Meadow Pilot Project. We will be running community volunteering sessions to help transform an agricultural field into a thriving wetland ecosystem.
To organise sessions for local groups or to find out about monthly community volunteering sessions, speak to our project team by emailing wetlandarc@theparkstrust.com.
Community
We want the Wetland Arc to reflect the desires of the communities that it serves. Milton Keynes has a wonderfully diverse population and we want our parks to welcome everyone!
Our project team will be working with community groups, our Access Ambassadors, volunteers and parish councils to capture community ideas for the landscape and work with locals to ensure the parks meet their needs.
If you respresent a community group and would like to get involved with shaping the Wetland Arc masterplan, contact our project team.
The National Lottery Heritage Fund
This project has been made possible thanks to a £213,000 grant from The National Lottery Heritage Fund. Using money raised by National Lottery players, they distribute grants to support projects across the UK that connect people and communities to their heritage.
With 355 hectares of parkland (500 football pitches), there are loads of parks to discover along the Wetland Arc!
Discover more about our work in the community and for nature.
