Get your wellies on!

HANDS-ON help is needed to clear two sites due to be declared official nature reserves.

The two locations are at Weston Hills and Ivel Springs in Baldock.

Final consultation is currently taking place, with Ivel Springs due to be made a nature reserve early next year and Weston Hills to follow later.

This will add to the reserves already established at Norton Common in Letchworth GC and Oughtonhead Common and Purwell Springs in Hitchin.

Countryside Management Services (CMS) is currently liaising with North Herts District Council to establish a management plan.

Angela Forster, project officer at CMS, said: "It's a designation usually made by the local authority to show the value they put on the site.

"It's usually a place of high wildlife value and it makes a statement about how the site is going to be managed. It's a statement of intent."

Friends of Baldock Green Spaces are a group of volunteers who want to help maintain and develop the Baldock sites for wildlife.

They are looking for volunteers to clear scrub, make bird boxes, create habitat areas and plant trees on these sites.

Cllr Michael Muir, a member of Friends of Baldock Green Spaces, said: "If you care about Baldock and have some free time, please go along and help out on one of these days."

Ms Forster added: "We want people to get practically involved in the site. It's amazingly important and makes such a difference. It's the chance for people to get involved with projects on their own doorstep."

All ages are welcome, including children if they are accompanied by a responsible adult. Gloves, tools and a hot drink will be provided.

Future dates for Weston Hills are: November 19 at 10am and November 22 at 10.20am. The meeting point is at the gate on Ivel Way.

Future dates for Ivel Springs will be sometime in the New Year.

For more information, call 01462 459 395 or email: dieter.iwan

@hertscc.gov.uk