Kingfisher Country Park
| Kingfisher Country Park | |
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Meriden Park lake, within Kingfisher Country Park, which flows into the River Cole
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| Location | Birmingham, England |
| Coordinates | 52°29′37″N 1°47′42″W / 52.4937°N 1.7951°WCoordinates: 52°29′37″N 1°47′42″W / 52.4937°N 1.7951°W |
| Area | 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) approx. |
| Operated by | |
| Website | www |
Kingfisher Country Park is a country park in Britain. It is situated in East Birmingham, West Midlands. Initially designated as Project Kingfisher by Birmingham City Council, the park was formally declared a country park in July 2004. The country park is located along an 11km stretch of the River Cole from Small Heath (Birmingham) to Chelmsley Wood (Solihull) at the M6 motorway. It is a Local Nature Reserve.
The overall aim of the project was to preserve and care for the River Cole valley. The project was inaugurated in 1985.
Both the Birmingham City Council and the Solihull MBC sponsored the project in a joint venture. Charities and organisations that funded the project were:
The country park has an area of around 1,000 acres (4.0 km2) and crosses the border between Birmingham and the Metropolitan Borough of Solihull. Within the original project, and now surrounding the country park, are several local nature reserves. These include Yorks Wood which was declared a local nature reserve by Solihull MBC in the 1990s after purchasing it in the 1980s. Other nature reserves include Babbs Mill Lake and Alcott Wood. Cole Bank, Smiths Wood, Elmdon Nature Park and Elmdon Coppice are proposed local nature reserves.
Flowing through the country park is the River Cole which forms the River Cole Valley. The valley is home to different wildlife habitats and different types of landscape. The area contains a number of artificial lakes surrounded by plants ranging from grassland, wetland and woodland which dates back hundreds of years. Babbs Mill Lake in Shard End was dug to be a balancing feature in times of flooding at the river. Shard End Lake was created as a result of an old quarry being filled with water.
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