Improving Sustainability At Maesdu

Great news, our sustainability program is going from strength to strength and we are making positive changes every day to help our environment! A huge thanks to all the team for their hard work. Please Click Here to read our latest Newsletter, showing where we are to date, along with some of the projects in the planning stages.

The Club is actively working with Wales Golf to improve its sustainability by examining its practices and processes and taking action to address any shortcomings. In line with golf industry standards we have divided our sustainability objectives into three distinct areas, which are Nature, Resources and Community.

Sustainability-Newsletter-April-2024

NATURE is primarily concerned with:

• how course maintenance practices impact on wildlife habitats
• how biodiversity can be improved through habitat management
• how to prevent pollution

RESOURCES is concerned with our use of water, energy and materials with the aim of:

• reducing need
• using efficiently
• sourcing responsibly
• reusing and recycling

COMMUNITY concentrates on how the Club:

• engages with it’s local community
• supports charities
• promotes the health and well-being of it’s employees and members
• provides fair and safe employment

Progress To Date

During 2022 the Club performed a comprehensive review of its practices and processes to identify those which have a direct impact on the Nature and Resources areas of Sustainability. The results of this review have enabled us to identify areas which are already making a positive contribution to our sustainability and, conversely, to create action plans to address those areas where we are falling short.

Based on its findings; and following advice from North Wales Wildlife Trust; we are already taking action to improve our natural areas by:

• creating additional wildlife habitats throughout the Course by introducing bird, bat and owl boxes and thinning out areas of bracken
• introducing pollinating plants and wild flowers to increase biodiversity and enhance the visual impact of the course

On the Resources front our main priority is to reduce our use of mains water. Climate change is putting pressure on water resources and it is anticipated this will result in restrictions on the use of mains water to irrigate golf courses. Harvesting rain water from our roofs, utilising water from our ponds, and exploring the potential for a bore hole are some of the options under consideration.

Future Plans

Improving our sustainability is a continuous process in which our initial review is just the start. Our short term plans are to complete our review of the Community aspects of Sustainability and to implement improvements already identified within Resources and Nature. Longer term we will continue to monitor and improve our existing practices and, where appropriate, introduce new and innovative ideas to achieve our Sustainability objectives.

Rainscape Project

Welsh Water has recently installed a Rainscape project in an area beside the 16th green.

The scheme has been created to allow the effective management and collection of surface water in the local area. This water is now collected and diverted into a new pipe work system in the roads around Maesdu Golf Club which then enters onto the golf course. The installation prevents the surface water from entering the sewer system which reduces the risks of sewer flooding and pollution.

A new open culvert has been built from the pipe exit across the 16th fairway. To control the risk of localised flooding hey they have also installed a weir to control the additional volumes of water in times of heavy rainfall. Water stopped by the weir is fed through an underground pipe into a large purpose built open basin that can hold the excess water until the flow rate has reduced sufficiently. The basin can then slowly empty and return the water to the natural water course. The basin has been planted with many different types of grasses and plants able to tolerate these unique conditions. They not only visually enhance the whole area but provide a valuable function filtering the water as it passes through the scheme.

Maesdu Golf Club has worked closely with Welsh Water to create a finished project that is an attractive visual enhancement of the 16th hole but is also a wonderful new habitat for wildlife.

The Maesdu Rainscape project has been a major engineering scheme that has improved the local landscape and created a greener, cleaner local area.

What is Rainscape?

Welsh Water is developing and using new and more effective ways to manage the amount of surface water entering our sewers. They have called this approach Rainscape. They use a range of techniques called RainScape solutions which catch, redirect and slow down the speed at which surface water enters the local sewer network or, where possible, removes it completely. It helps reduce sewer flooding and pollution and will help to improve the local landscape and create greener, cleaner places to live. These solutions can be incorporated into new developments or installed into the existing sewer systems.