Habitat point records from 1987 OPRU HRE Newtown and Bembridge Harbours survey

Newtown Harbour is situated on the north coast of the Isle of Wight and opens into the western arm of the Solent. It is a naturally formed inlet with a number of dendritic channels meeting near the narrow entrance. The surrounding land is low-lying and the channels are flanked by saltmarsh. A sea wall was built to reclaim land to the north of Newtown, but has since been breached and the land has reverted to saltmarsh. Freshwater inputs are not very great and salinities are not greatly reduced, except in the furthest reachest of the channels. Substrata are predominantly muddy sediments with some shingle in places. Mudflats are extensive and are of importance for waders and wildfowl. The entrance is flanked by shingle banks and stable hard-substrata is provided by some areas of of the sea wall and a few quay walls. The Harbour is a popular anchorage for pleasure yachts but moorings are restricted and there are no marinas. Fishing activity is minimal but there is a small oyster farm in Clamerkin Lake. There are very few sewage discharges and no industrial development. Access is difficult to most areas, but local schools do make use of certain sites for education. The whole harbour is designated as an SSSI and most of this area is managed by the County Council as a Local Nature Reserve. One major intertidal habitat and one subtidal habitat have been described by this survey, but communities on stable hard substrata have not been fully described. The intertidal muddy sediments are colonised by communities of typical estuarine sediment species. Two species of interest, the immigrant ostrocod Eusarsiella zostericola and the under recorded prawn Palaemon adspersus, were also recorded. The subtidal pebbles and cobbles on muddy sand in the entrance channel are very similar to much of the tide-swept areas in the Solent. Bembridge Harbour is situated on the easternmost point of the Isle of Wight and opens into the eastern arm of the Solent. It is a naturally formed inlet with a long entrance channel through sandflats. Sea walls have been built on the west side of the harbour where the town of Bembridge is established. The surrounding land is low-lying with sand dunes to the north and south and marsh land to the northwest and southwest. Freshwater inputs are not very great and salinities are not greatly reduced. Substrata are predominantly muddy sediments with some hard substrata on the upper shore and clean mobile sand at the entrance. The harbour is privately owned and is managed by the Bembridge Harbour Improvement Company who carry out mineral extraction on the sandflats, dunes and subtidal areas. There are a large number of boats using the harbour, both pleasure and commercial, and there is one marina. A second marina has been proposed. There are few sewage discharges and shore developments are confined to boatyards and other boating industries. Access is easy to most parts of the harbour but moorings and rubbish do not make it a safe area for educational visits. The undeveloped areas surrounding the harbour have considerable nature conservation importance, and include the Bembridge Ledges which have been proposed as a Voluntary Marine Nature Reserve. Five intertidal habitats and one subtidal habitat have been described by this survey. The intertidal muddy sediments inside the harbour are colonised by communities of typical estuarine sediment species, while the clean mobile sans outside are generally impoverished. Areas of lower shore shingle outside the harbour are colonised by richer communities of algae and infauna characteristic of the habitat. Subtidal sand with pebbles in the entrance channel is similar to other areas of the Solent but include some species of interest, in particular the rarely recorded algae Chrondria tennuissima. The scientific interest and conservation importance of habitats and communities in the Harbours have been provisionally graded as of Local, Regional or National importance. Species of particular scientific interest have been tabulated and there conservation importance provisionally graded as of Regional or National importance. Newtown Harbour is almost completely natural and the mudflats are considered to be of high nature conservation importance, both as feeding areas for birds and as good examples of undisturbed estuarine habitats. Bembridge Harbour, however, is largely un-natural and although the marine habitats are similar to those in Newtown Harbour they are not considered to be of high nature conservation importance. Few species of scientific interest are present in either harbour. Records currently considered sensitive have been removed from this dataset.

Organization: Joint Nature Conservation Committee