A COMMUNITY nature reserve is one step closer to becoming a reality after getting approval from Wiltshire Council’s southern area planning committee on Thursday.

Volunteers have been working for two years to bring the Broken Bridges Nature Reserve - 10 hectares of water meadows between Harnham and Lower Bemerton - to fruition, but needed approval for a change of use before money earmarked by the old Salisbury District Council could be released to buy the site.

Pam Rouquette, a member of the nature reserve group, told councillors: “This is a critical moment for us. It’s an opportunity which very rarely comes up, to actually purchase a piece of land on behalf of the community. It’s taken us two years to get to this point and we hope if you can approve this it will go to Wiltshire Council to start looking at funding.”

The aim is to open up the area for public access, while protecting its wildlife. The team hope to widen the paths and improve disabled access, create kissing gates wide enough for wheelchairs and prams, and cut informal paths across the meadows as well as installing some boardwalks.

Cllr Bill Moss said: “I think this is much to be encouraged. Congratulations to the group of people who are putting it forward, it amounted to a lot of work I am sure. I wish them the best of luck.”

Many committee members said similar positive things about the project as they approved a change of use from agricultural to informal recreation with low intensity grazing.