Queen's Hills Community Park
Queen's Hills Community Park is a wonderful area for the local population to walk and relax and enjoy the nature around them. The site is a designated County Wildlife Site managed by South Norfolk Council.
The 90 acre site is rich in wildlife, due to the diversity of habitat types found within the park.
The site is particularly important for its floodplain fen and flower-rich valley side grasslands, grading into scrub and mature woodland. This mix of valley side habitats has become increasingly rare in the post-war period.
There have been 229 species of plants recorded on the site so far, which support around 100 species of bees and wasps – including several that are rare or scarce nationally.
More work is planned to help further understand the plants and animals using the site throughout the year.
Conservation
It is hoped the park will become an exemplar of urban nature conservation and bring the local community into contact with a very wide range of amazing plants and animals.
Work is planned on the site over the next few years to improve it for both wildlife and residents. The emphasis will be to provide interconnected areas of open grassland on light, sandy soils throughout the site through a programme of scrub and tree clearance. This will provide flower-rich and bare ground areas throughout the site that will be very beneficial for a wide range of plants and invertebrates in particular.
Walking routes
We ask that for their own safety and to help maintain the natural environment visitors stick to the paths. Plans are in place to formalise the footpaths through the woodland on the west of the site.
We need volunteers
Do you have some free time on your hands?
Make a positive change for your community and the environment by dedicating a few hours of your week to helping make Queen’s Hills Community Park as fantastic and fun as it can possibly be for everybody to enjoy.
Whilst volunteering, you may have the chance to carry out a number of activities such as:
- Habitat management - this might include scrub clearance, footpath clearance, grassland management.
- General maintenance of park facilities such as benches and fences
- Litter picking
To find out more get in touch with us through our Facebook page [insert Facebook link] or the by emailing us queenshills@southnorfolkandbroadland.gov.uk.
What to look out for during your visit
You are likely to see a wide range of birds like thrush, great and blue tits, goldcrests, goldfinches, long tailed tits, great spotted woodpecker, green woodpecker, buzzards and much more on-site year round.
In the spring you can find bluebells through the western woodland, wild garlic and primroses. Throughout the summer, butterflies and dragonflies can be seen across the whole site.
During your visit you might also be lucky enough to see common lizards, slow worms, grass snakes or adders - four of the UK's six indigenous reptile species.
Please respect and protect nature by taking your litter home and cleaning up after dogs and keeping them under close control.
Parking
At present there is no car park on site and any visitor from outside of the Queen’s Hills estate will have to park on the estate roads. We ask that if you visit this site by car, you are considerate about your parking and do not restrict access to driveways and properties.
Partners
Queen’s Hills Community Park is managed in partnership with the Friends of Queen’s Hills Community Park. We are also working closely with the Norwich Fringe Project, the Trust for Conservation Volunteers (TCV) and the Queen’s Hill Primary School.