Cute little fellow, isn't he?

This furry little fellow is a water vole and, I discover, we have some here in Creeting St Peter. As you can imagine, I'm pretty excited by the prospect.

However, there is a catch. The water vole apparently live in our Local Nature Reserve (and the capital letters are deliberate). Unfortunately, the Reserve is one of the many things that the county council no longer wish to be responsible for, and they're trying to get parish councils to take up the reins.

That would be fine if we were a bigger parish, or maybe even a town. However, as a parish of just 260 souls, the cost of maintaining the reserve is almost certainly more than  we could manage. So, I've been trying to find out more about the situation...

Section 21 of the National Parks and Access to the Countryside Act 1949 allows local authorities to create Local Nature Reserves, on the basis that they will be maintained. Unfortunately, they can de-declare (Section 19(3) of the same Act), but the option to apply to Natural England for enhanced status as a National Nature Reserve exists.

So, it looks like I'm going to have to make a few telephone calls...