East Anglia Press Releases for the Norfolk & Suffolk Broads with Press Releases and Articles from the Broads Authority in East Anglia, and the East of England UK.

Smart new moorings incorporating safety features at picturesque How Hill on the River Ant open on schedule for the start of the new season on Saturday (April 1st).

The 300 metre moorings feature a raised, easy access footpath, 100 new mooring posts and safety ladders installed at 50m intervals.

The moorings have been raised to prevent flooding, repiled in steel and bordered by two strips of wood fendering to soften the impact when mooring boats.

The steel piling has been undertaken by BESL (Broadland Environmental Services Ltd.) as part of the Environment Agency's flood defence work throughout the Broads.

Additionally, the staithe area around Toad Hole Cottage museum is now accessible to people in wheelchairs. The Broads Authority's projects team and Edmund Nuttall have repiled the staithe quay heading and dredged out a mooring reserved for day boats designed for people with disabilities. They have also regraded slopes, surfaced pathways to Toad Hole Cottage, and are building a new bridge across the dyke in front of the cottage, using a contribution provided by Defra (Department of the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs.) Part of the area has been turfed and benches provided.

Broads Authority Waterways Manager Trudi Wakelin said:

"The new moorings will provide a greatly enhanced amenity at this popular beauty spot.

How Hill is one of the most well used areas of the Broads and the moorings give access to important land-based activities for boaters such as the How Hill Nature Reserve, Toad Hole Cottage museum and information centre, and Buttles Marsh, a reedbed developed for Bitterns. It is also an attractive spot for ramblers to visit the river and watch passing boats."

Reproduced by kind permission of Broads Authority.