St Julian's Park
Posted on Monday 29th June 2015
A proposal to designate St Julian's Park as a local nature reserve has been approved by Newport City Council and will now go to Natural Resources Wales for consultation.
The purpose of seeking designation is to protect and preserve this precious green habitat for both present users and future generations.
Stretching from Beechwood to Caerleon, the 52-hectare site - known locally as Purnell's Farm, is popular with ramblers and dog. It contains more than 300 species of plants and animals and has fantastic views from the top of the sloping site.
One of the benefits of the designation would be to upgrade the status of the park and will give official recognition for its conservation value. It can also attract additional funding for management of this natural green space and improving legal rights of way.
Regular users of the park have been asked about the proposal and the Newport Biodiversity Partnership have informally discussed the designation.
However, if Natural Resources Wales agree with the designation, the public would be consulted to give the opportunity for them to feed into future management proposal as well as provide expert local and specialised knowledge.
Ideas include promoting the health and recreational benefits of the park and encouraging schoolchildren to use it as an "outdoor classroom".