Letter: Nature reserve could be great place to visit

I read with interest Lee Sword's letter, (The Star, April 13, "Sheffield is run by ideological idiots"), and it has prompted me to drop you a line or two about the recently created lakes at Orgreave.

First of all, I don't know who is responsible for the creation of the lakes, but I do appreciate having a nicely developing nature reserve on Sheffield's doorstep.

Water always attracts birds and we get a good number of interesting waders dropping in from time to time, one, in particular, is the avocet.

However, the island on the small lake is nothing more than a very disappointing large lump of earth without any thought gone into shaping it. It should have been given a nice gentle slope with a flat area giving more space for nesting birds.

The other lake is a large expanse of water that is absolutely crying out for an island to be put in it. I can't understand why the planners who scraped out the depression didn't leave a natural island in the middle, thus saving time and money and creating a safe habitat for waders to breed on.

One area of the lake has had water-loving plants and reeds planted around the edges and they are coming on nicely.

Under better conditions, the shores around the lake would be ideal for ground-nesting birds, but the chances of this happening are very slim because of human disturbance.

There are a couple of signs asking the public not to enter certain areas, but of course, these signs do not apply to inconsiderate dog walkers who allow their pets to run and splash about anywhere.

At the moment, Orgreave nature reserve is still developing and is not a bad place to visit, but had a bit more thought gone into it in the early stages it would now be a great place to visit.