EFFORTS to bring a wildlife haven to central Middlesbrough have been backed – with hopes it can be expanded in future. 

A stretch of open land off the A66 at North Ormesby will become a nature reserve in a bid to safeguard its rich biodiversity.

The vision west of Shepherdson Way, near the Chemoxy chemical plant, is the idea of ecologist and botanist Colin Conroy.

Mr Conroy moved to North Ormesby in 2016 and has experience of setting up urban areas as havens for wildlife in London.

The keen bird watcher told the Local Democracy Reporting Service he was struck by hundreds of orchids on the site near the A66 – and its wider potential to become a nature reserve.

He spent years visiting the stretch gathering data on birds, plants and other wildlife – attracting support for his vision from Sarah Barry at the Tees Wildlife Trust, Thirteen Housing, Middlesbrough councillors and partners at the North Ormesby Big Local group. 

Mr Conroy was pleased the council had agreed to the nature reserve designation for its conservation and potential to be an educational resource.

But he hoped it was “just the start” – with ambitions to include land to the east of Shepherdson Way and a stretch running alongside the railway line in future. 

Mr Conroy said: “It’s a start – the idea is to get it designated, protect it and then start looking at how we can manage it.

“To manage grassland for conversation, once or twice a year – in late summer and in early spring – you need to mow it and take away the cuttings.

“It stops the soil getting too rich. 

“It’s counter-intuitive to a non-ecologist but you want soil to be poorer because you get more species. 

“If you just have it rich the big bushy things take offer like grass, bushes and nettles – if you have either mowing or grazing and keeping those in check, you get more diversity which is better for plants, insects and birds.”

The stretch being dubbed “The Lower Ormesby Nature Reserve” is home to 13 species of butterfly – including the rare Dingy Skipper – 45 bird species and three rare types of orchid.

A programme of events, walking loops and volunteers to work on the land are in the pipeline.  

Ahead of the meeting, Mr Conroy said the site and Ormesby Beck did suffer from litter and fly tipping – but believed it would boost the image of North Ormesby and the wider project at Middlehaven. 

He added that a lot of people walked through the area when Middlesbrough FC played at home. 

Mr Conroy said: “You find as a bird watcher and conservationist that people walk past things that they don’t notice are there.

“But when you point them out to them, they’re really interested.”

Leaders gave the nature reserve their seal of approval at a meeting on December 22. 

They agreed “site one” west of Shepherdson Way would become the reserve for now – as the site east of the road north of the Six Medals is earmarked for commercial developments.

Middlesbrough Mayor Andy Preston added: “To be clear, as you drive off the A66 towards the Riverside Stadium, the land on the left would become the nature reserve and everything on the right would not.”

However, executive members vowed to consider including the wider stretch in the nature reserve at a later date. 

Cllr Ashley Waters, member for North Ormesby, praised Mr Conroy for his efforts and work on the scheme.

He said: “We don’t have anything like it in central Middlesbrough – it is something which is special and unique. 

“I personally would like to see the commercial site being used as a wider part of the nature reserve.”

The easternmost site nearer the empty Middlehaven Sainsbury’s is on the open market – with the council setting it aside for an “office, storage or garage showroom type development”.

But Mr Preston agreed the larger stretch of land would be looked at again. 

The mayor added: “It’s up for discussion as it’s been identified as a commercial use which could bring income.

“We’ll have to balance the financial and economic gain to the town versus the potential environmental gain.”