Local Natural Environment and Wildlife
The Parish of Potton covers approximately 1,085 hectare (ha) and is situated at the eastern end of the Greensand Ridge. Its expanding urban centre is surrounded primarily by agricultural lands and horse paddocks with some woodlands.
Potton Brook – flowing north to south through the centre of the town – is the only natural wetlands in the parish. There is a private man-made lake at the northern edge of the town, while just inside the county boundary with neighbouring Cambridgeshire is a decommissioned irrigation reservoir on Myers Farm.
Potton Brook broadly divides the two main soil types associated with the town. To the west are the sandy soils of the Greensand Ridge, which extend west across Bedfordshire to Leighton Buzzard. To the east of Potton are heavier boulder clay soils, on which at the highest point of the parish is Potton Wood. This 85.5ha woodland is a designated Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and County Wildlife Site (CWS).
The woodlands nearer the town, Pegnut (43ha) to the south and Sheepbridge (9ha) to the north, have been planted on what was wet grassland and flood meadow. They are mainly Poplar with other species such as Cherry. Among these are naturally regenerating Oak and thorn scrub which take advantage of gaps created by dead Poplars, and also where overhead power cables run. The only remaining relict wet grassland is on private land and not publicly accessible.
Potton also has three designated County Wildlife Sites within the parish, the most publicly accessible being Potton Wood and Carthagena Bridleway. There is also one Roadside Nature Reserve.
Despite increasing urbanisation. Potton has a rich and diverse mix of flora and fauna with approximately 3,000 species recorded within the parish. This includes plants, reptiles and amphibians, mammals, invertebrates and birds.
Of those, approximately 100 species are considered of Priority or Principle Importance under Section 41 of the Natural Environment and Rural Communities (NERC) Act 2006. The value of the area for wildlife is acknowledged in the 2014 ‘Greensand Ridge Nature Improvement Area: Ecological Evidence Base’ document. It notes that the Potton area has the highest density of Priority Species of Importance within the Nature Improvement Area – 33.5 per 1km square.
More documents about the natural environment and wildlife of Potton can be found below.
St Mary’s Churchyard Site Survey 2017
The Cylindrical Whorl Snail Report 2002
The Cylindrical Whorl Snail Report 2005
Grass Cutting in Potton
Potton Community Orchard_Spring News 2020
HSPF Carrot Wash – Water Vole Habitat Management Plan – Potton brook
Plants in the park
Insects of Potton
Potton Butterfly Walk_guided leaflet
Potton Neighbourhood Plan Annex F Green Infrastructure Design Guide
The Ecological Potential of Potton