Sefton Coast Landscape Partnership

07/02/2026

🌿 𝗩𝗶𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿𝗶𝗮 𝗥𝗼𝗮𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝗲𝗿𝘃𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗽𝗿𝗼𝗷𝗲𝗰𝘁 𝘂𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲
Our major conservation work at Victoria Road, is now in its final stages and the replacement car park is on track to open in early spring.

Although most of the fencing has been removed this is still an active work site and there will be contractors and large construction vehicles on site for a few more weeks whilst we work together to carry out the finishing touches.

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝗮 𝗾𝘂𝗶𝗰𝗸 𝗿𝗼𝘂𝗻𝗱-𝘂𝗽 𝗼𝗳 𝘄𝗼𝗿𝗸 𝗵𝗮𝗽𝗽𝗲𝗻𝗶𝗻𝗴:

* Making final adjustments to the large sand pile that will form the new dunes

* Installing signage and infrastructure to help you find your way

* Cleaning and refreshing the existing toilet block

* Final surveys and checks

* Clearing the work site

𝗛𝗲𝗿𝗲’𝘀 𝘀𝗼𝗺𝗲 𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗳𝘂𝗹 𝗶𝗻𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗺𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻:

* The car park will remain closed until work is complete

*The gates at the entrance are closed to stop cars from entering the site

* For your own safety we recommend keeping your distance from the work site area

* Keep dogs on a lead if wandering close to the work site area

* Please give the dune restoration area time to heal by using less sensitive areas of the site

Thank you for your patience and support, the safety of everyone is really important to us.

👀 Check out our project website page, which is regularly updated with useful information, including answers to frequently asked questions.

Click on the link in our bio on Instagram or in the comments on Facebook.

07/02/2026

If you missed the Sefton Coast column this week, you can read it online here.
"Marvellous to get out on the first guided walk of the year a week or so ago, enjoying the frontal dunes and searching for one of the coast’s most enigmatic residents.
The inaugural “Petalwort Safari” at Ainsdale was led by community ranger Jordan Scott and drew a great crowd made up of visitors of all ages.
Petalwort is a miniscule non-vascular plant that thrives in sandy areas of light vegetation and as such is a prime indicator of dune health.
Or at least it should be.
The unprecedented drought conditions of 2025 meant that there were no records of Petalwort in its favoured habitats on the coast.
The plant needs moisture and films of water (whether dew or light rain) to spread its spores, so drought is devastating to the species.
Being so small (a maximum of two millimetres across) it is of course easy to overlook, but the absence of sightings in 2025 was worrying.
By encouraging visitors to follow a regular path through favoured sites in the dunes it should keep vegetation low in favoured areas and make conditions better for the Petalwort.
Strimming by rangers and clearance of invasive species by the Buckthorn Bashers volunteer group (these wonderful volunteers are out most Thursday afternoons in winter, meeting at the Sands Lake car park, and are always looking for new members) has helped maintain the Petalwort’s ideal habitat, but it needs all the help it can get.
Jordan Scott will be staging monthly guided walks through the site, which typically take 90 minutes to two hours throughout the year.
These easy walks will be taking in areas of previous Petalwort records but will doubtless encounter other treasures in the dunes as the year progresses.
The route also passes areas of slack habitat rejuvenated by winter work by Green Sefton, which drew on contractors to dig out areas previously choked by scrub vegetation and now looking much healthier.
These areas will be beneficial to other key species on the dune system including Natterjack Toads and Sand Lizards, and a host of specialised dune flora.
If you’d like more details of Green Sefton’s monthly “Petalwort Safaris” please email [email protected] and watch out for further details on Green Sefton’s facebook and twitter accounts.
At the risk of ending on a low note the amount of uncollected dog fouling as we accessed the dunes north of Shore Road at Ainsdale was appalling.
Dog walkers are welcome to enjoy the protected dune system as long as they keep their pets under control, do not disturb habitats or species and pick up all fouling.
If you cannot do that then don’t come.
A £100 fixed penalty notice awaits those who let their pets foul and fail to clear the mess up – fouling accumulates and damages this fragile habitat while presenting real health issues for other visitors to the coast who treat the Local Nature Reserve with more respect".
Sefton Council National Trust Formby Ainsdale Sand Dunes and Ribble Estuary National Nature Reserves RSPB Ribble Estuary Lancashire Wildlife Trust

20/12/2025

Countryside Stewardship higher tier funded contractors have finished the scrape creation work along the velvet trail in Birkdale. They have now moved on to the New Green Beach at the southern end of the Birkdale frontal dunes, North of Shore Road in Ainsdale.

You might see their machinery scraping off a thin (

15/12/2025

Big thank you to Green Sefton for showing partners some of the essential winter management activities on our special Coast. So important to ensure it remains special for people and wildlife 💚🐸🦎👨‍👩‍👦👣 National Trust Formby RSPB The Mersey Forest Lancashire Wildlife Trust Natural England

15/12/2025

If you missed the Sefton Coast column this week, you can read it online here:
"With winter’s arrival Green Sefton’s Land Management Team’s work along the coast is ramped up, for the window for this work in the dunes gets smaller every year as the climate changes.
The shorter months are key to continue managing the spread of invasive species and scrub woodland at a time when disturbance to dune specialists can be kept to a minimum.
Green Sefton and contractors are working on a number of sites along the coast, clearing scrub to create areas of open dune habitat and where possible rejuvenate old slacks – flooded areas where the water table is high enough to flood in winter.
This creates perfect places for specialists like Natterjack Toads and other amphibians to emerge and breed in the spring.
Volunteers work hand in hand with core staff cutting back areas of invasive species including Sea Buckthorn, but in areas of more established scrub, large scale works using mechanical diggers operated by skilled contractors are the most efficient way of getting the job done.
Visitors to the Birkdale side of the Ainsdale and Birkdale Sandhills Local Nature Reserve will have noticed some of this work recently as areas long engulfed by scrub are being rejuvenated and restored to open sand dune habitat.
Sea Buckthorn is also being removed on the seaward side of the dunes south of Weld Road.
These efforts are funded via DEFRA’s Countryside Stewardship Higher Tier funding which allows Green Sefton to carry out this work.
Sometimes the end result can appear stark and damaging to a cherished landscape, but with time the habitat softens and dune flora reappears, so that areas cleared with the same diggers south of Shore Road at Ainsdale only two years ago are healthy stretches of the dune system now, home again to protected key species.
The natural process on a dune system is for scrub to spread, but if left unchecked the habitat quickly becomes untenable for many key species.
Opening up areas also creates opportunities for “connectivity” allowing the same key species to move around the coastline setting up new territories and growing new or expanded healthy populations.
Regardless of the obvious conservation benefits to this work, Sefton is obliged to carry out this management work, seeking as it does, to achieve more favourable habitat conditions.
As landowners, under section 28G of the Wildlife and Countryside Act 1981, as inserted by the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000, Sefton Council is required to take reasonable steps, consistent with the proper exercise of its functions, to further the conservation and enhancement of the Sefton Coast Site of Special Scientific Interest.
This means there is a legal requirement to maintain a healthy, open dune system, which Green Sefton and other conservation groups and partners along the Sefton Coast do each winter, through scrub and invasive non-native species management, conservation grazing and sand patching."
Sefton Council National Trust Formby Ainsdale Sand Dunes and Ribble Estuary National Nature Reserves Lancashire Wildlife Trust RSPB Ribble Estuary

15/12/2025

08/12/2025

The naughty elf's dog has been chasing the birds!

Dogs are welcome on the coast but must be kept under control and not disturb the wildlife (yes, that includes the gulls!)

Respect, protect and Enjoy the Sefton coast!

Sefton Council National Trust Formby RSPB Ribble Estuary Ainsdale Sand Dunes and Ribble Estuary National Nature Reserves Lancashire Wildlife Trust

08/12/2025

The last "Buckthorn Bash" before the Christmas and New Year break will be on Thursday 11th December, meeting as usual at 1.30pm at the Sands Lake carpark, Ainsdale, opposite Pontins. There will be parking permits for cars. It should be a nice day, sunny periods, mild and a low chance of rain.
Please make a special effort to come, as there will be tea and mince pies for everyone indoors, after a shorter bashing session. Also, I will bring our Buckthorn Bashers 'Certificate of Appreciation' awarded last week by Green Sefton and the Mayor of Sefton.
If you have them, bring long-handled loppers, which are ideal for cutting the small regrowth we will encounter. Green Sefton has provided extra loppers for our use.
Also essential are thick gloves - gardening gloves are ideal. Outdoor clothing and robust footwear are prerequisites.
This volunteer event will finish at 3.30pm.
Sefton Council Ainsdale Sand Dunes and Ribble Estuary National Nature Reserves Lancashire Wildlife Trust National Trust Formby RSPB Ribble Estuary

28/11/2025

📣 Calling all litter picking groups in Sefton! 🌍

We’re looking to find out the details of all the volunteer litter picking groups across the Borough! If you’re part of a group (or know someone who is), we’d love to hear from you.

By bringing group details together, we can make it easier for more people to join next year’s Great British Spring Clean and celebrate your amazing work.

📩 Email [email protected] or comment with your group’s name and contact details.

Here’s Crosby Wombles – one of Sefton’s amazing litter-picking groups, showing true civic pride for over three years! 💚🚮