Reedbed viewing platform

As many of our regular visitors will know, we have recently had to close the viewing platform overlooking the Castle Water reedbed at Rye Harbour Nature Reserve. It is very popular and well-used and has therefore experienced significant wear and tear since it was built. Although we have repaired it many times, the boardwalk is no longer safe or economical to repair and must be replaced.

Due to the sensitive location of the platform within the nature reserve, Sussex Wildlife Trust has taken the decision to postpone work to create a new access to the reedbed viewing platform until after the end of the bird breeding season. While we recognise this will be disappointing to the many users of the viewing platform, this is the only decision that can ensure the best possible outcome for the wildlife that Rye Harbour Nature Reserve exists to protect.

We have been progressing plans for replacing the boardwalk with a new access structure since Autumn 2023, including clearing the new access route of vegetation over the winter to remove any risk of directly disturbing breeding birds, and obtaining a Wildlife and Countryside Act licence to ensure the work can be undertaken legally. Sussex Wildlife Trust advocates for others to always strive to do better for wildlife and we hold ourselves to this same high standard. As the project has progressed it has become clear that whilst the work may be able to be carried out legally, this does not mean it can be undertaken entirely without risk to wildlife. We do not want to disturb the rare and important birds that we have nesting at Castle Water and as such it has been necessary to delay the work.

In the meantime, we wanted to let you know of an alternative location from which the reedbed can be viewed. You can find it at guided trail point 13 on the map below:

https://rye.sussexwildlifetrust.org.uk/map Alternatively the What3words are: https://w3w.co/desiring.manual.tastier

We recognise that this will be disappointing to many and we know that our supporters will share with us the desire to always do better for wildlife.