The Branford Land Trust has received a small planning grant from the Connecticut Recreational Trails Program to create an accessible trail on the Todds Hill Wet Meadow Preserve. The trail will allow direct access to nature for people with physical, sensory, and cognitive disabilities.
Todds Hill Wet Meadow Preserve is a 24.2-acre open space set-aside acquired by the BLT in 2020, located in the vicinity of Cherry Hill Road, Todds Hill Road, and Parish Farm Road. The preserve was part of an estate, now mostly cleared, with scattered large trees and two man-made ponds.
The parcel was conveyed to BLT after neighbors strongly lobbied the Planning and Zoning Commission to make the open space available for public passive recreation. In addition to the opportunity to create trails for passive recreation, the large, cleared area offers the possibility of creating a more diverse habitat of native trees, shrubs, and herbaceous plants that will better support native wildlife and pollinators. It also protects public water supply water quality, as the property is bordered on the north by undeveloped Regional Water Authority property.
The BLT Trails Crew have already spent hundreds of hours along with the Town’s Environment and Conservation Commission, removing invasive plant species and preparing for the accessible trail and pollinator plantings.
Most property protected by the BLT would be difficult to make available to people with disabilities, but the physical features of Todds Hill Wet Meadow Preserve are uniquely suitable, and the BLT is excited to begin work on this project.
If you are a community member whose life is touched by disability and you would like to have input into the planning process, please contact the Branford Land Trust at info@branfordlandtrust.org.
