Scrappy patch of land near Monkey's Jump roundabout to become wildflower haven
National Highways have been working on the area to solve flooding on the A35
This scrappy parcel of land, owned by the Duchy of Cornwall – near the Monkey’s Jump roundabout in Dorchester should be bursting with wildflowers next year.
The area has been dug up and a giant soakaway system installed to prevent flooding at the roundabout, a problem since the town’s bypass opened.
Now the site has been re-instated National Highways say they are keen to return it to nature and to help wildlife diversity at the same time.
Top soil has been removed from the site which is too rich for many naturally occurring wild flowers and grasses with the whole area to be seeded to give it a new look next year.
The roundabout, which joins the A35 and Middle Farm Way, has often been the subject of flooding during the wetter months of the year with water pooling on its easterly edge.
Engineers hope they have now solved that problem together with flooding issues mid-way along the bypass between the football ground roundabout and the Stinsford roundabout and also at the slip road junction close to Thomas Hardy’s Max Gate National Trust home.
The wild flower sowing will, according to National Highways, complement the work already being carried out along the Middle Farm Way verges and on the green in front of the Dorchester Fire Station, which is currently surrounded by grass up to four feet tall.
The Highways Agency say contractors have removed topsoil and covered the ground with a mix of chalk and clay, which is why it currently looking un-loved, but is said to be a perfect habitat for wildflowers.