National Trust acquires vital new stretch of coastal land to help create a new home for nature
- Former golf course will help conservation charity create new 30 hectare coastal nature reserve
- National Trust and partners will start work once restrictions due to Covid-19 are lifted
- Sand dunes and wetland habitats will be restored to help create habitats for a variety of wildlife such as uncommon and breeding birds
The National Trust has acquired a former Lincolnshire golf course, including 2km of coastal land, to help create a new 30 hectare, (74 acre), coastal nature reserve.
Working in partnership with Lincolnshire County Council, Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, East Lindsey District Council and the Environment Agency the reserve will form part of the Lincolnshire Coastal Countryside Park, to help protect wildlife.
Purchased for £800,000, it is the first coastal acquisition by the conservation charity since it secured 1.35km of the White Cliffs of Dover coastline in 2012. It has been made possible thanks to a generous donation from a supporter together with funds from the Trust’s Neptune Coastline Campaign, which supports coastline projects.
The former 30 hectare (74 acre) Sandilands golf course will be transformed by restoring sand dune and wetland habitats to make a haven for a variety of wildlife, especially uncommon migratory birds such as black-tailed godwit, spotted redshank and spoonbill along with breeding birds like snipe, lapwing and oystercatcher.
Work on the transformation will start once the coronavirus pandemic has passed, and the current Government restrictions are lifted.
The new reserve will complement the Lincolnshire Coastal Country Park, a 3,500 hectare (8,650 acre) area of coastline extending from Chapel Point in the south to Sandilands in the north, with coastal habitats including stunning sandy beaches, sand dunes and a series of grazing marshes and reedbeds that are important for wildlife.
Louise Ransberry, Assistant Director of Operations for the National Trust in the East Midlands, said: “The vision for the future of the new reserve is to provide a space where everyone can enjoy the benefits of nature.
“The Lincolnshire coast is one of the most important stretches of English coastline for wildlife, especially as it’s on the east coast ‘flyway’ migration route for birds.
“Once we are able to welcome visitors, they will be able to enjoy the colours of yellow flag iris and purple loosestrife while hearing the calls of squadrons of avocet; and, in winter, people will be able to admire the grace of a whooper swans’ flight as they arrive from their summer breeding grounds in the sub-arctic.”
Paul Learoyd, Chief Executive of Lincolnshire Wildlife Trust, said: “We are delighted the National Trust is making this commitment to the Lincolnshire coast. By restoring and protecting this section of the coast, there will be an easily accessible nature rich experience along this important stretch of coastline.
“The range of coastal habitats includes wide sandy beaches, sand dunes, dune scrub, reedbeds and freshwater grazing marshes. This provides habitat and migration stop-off points for large numbers of wading birds, terns and gulls, winter visitors such as thrushes and in the summer, breeding warblers and marsh harriers.”
Andy Beer, Director of the Midlands said: “We’re particularly pleased to be launching this nature reserve as the National Trust celebrates its 125th anniversary year. The work our teams and supporters do to look after special places is still as relevant today as it was 125 years ago.
“As we face into the climate crisis and the decline in wildlife numbers, we need nature now more than ever.
“There’s also growing evidence that when people connect with nature they’re more likely to protect it and help reverse the decline in wildlife. We also know that connecting with nature is good for our wellbeing, so creating a new nature reserve that complements the wider Lincolnshire Coastal Country Park will not only provide a welcome space for wildlife to thrive but it will also be a place where visitors, after the coronavirus crisis has passed, can thrive as well.”
For more on the beautiful Lincolnshire Natural Coast, visit www.lincsnaturalcoast.com
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I don’t know why it became a former golf course, but if it was due to the worldwide decline in golf club membership then this is especially welcome – there’s been far, far too much of the reverse, natural habitat being lost to golf courses. It’s certainly been one of the top threats to ancient woodland in the UK, their creation and expansion. It just goes to show how blinkered it ever was to allow ancient woodland in particular to be blitzed for golf – it was a passing fad, nature should be eternal and part of our real heritage. I used to have a book called ‘Species on the Edge’ that dedicated a single page to a species somewhere in the world that was seriously endangered, many were obscure invertebrates and plants. It was shocking in how many cases golf courses were listed as one of the reasons contributing to their scarcity. Rainforest has been cleared to make them and fertiliser run off has badly damaged coral reefs. Then there’s the vast quantity of water they need which on occasion has been diverted from local farmers after locals were pushed off their land in the first place. All so people could knock little white balls about – they could do that by playing pool instead for an infinitesimal part of the ecological impact. How desperately naff that wildlife and local culture was obliterated so people could fly in from thousands of miles away to play golf abroad rather than at home. Exciting to think what would happen if not only the land, but some of the money and interest formerly invested in golf got diverted to conservation too.
here, here
Now just need one other golf course (Trump’s of course) and a potential one (Coul) to go the same way.
There is the issue of coastal erosion of course. I hope the NT haven’t just wasted £800k. Perhaps that’s why the owners were prepared to sell. The picture says it all. No doubt the NT thought of that.
Way back in 1990 while on a weekend long conference for a conservation organisation we went on a visit to one of its local projects which was planting some marram grass on the beach next to a golf course. The club had OKed this because sand blowing on to their greens was a bit of a problem. We were told the attempted ‘solution’ had been to hire a helicopter which would do a transect with its rotors at an angle to try and use the down wash to blow the sand back on to the dunes. This sounds like an April 1st story but this was in December. The profligacy of golf ‘culture’ is truly shocking, but of course it very much fits in with it having a big role for those who like to express their aspirational nature – i.e want to flash their money and so called social status. I’ve worked with people who definitely liked or pretended to like golf because it was part of being in the executive set supposedly. There must be lots of potential in helping accelerate this shift away from golf by organising work/corporate days out or team building days doing something like plant trees on part of former grouse moors to help wildlife and reduce flooding – and set the stage for the return of the beaver to amplify both those positives. We hosted a couple of days like this in our wood and they were brilliant fun, certainly better for participants than pretending to enjoy hitting a little white ball with a club to please the boss.
Coul has been turned down, thank goodness. No doubt there will be lots of appeals but it was a Scottish government decision, so unless the appeals panel are all rabid golfers it should be consigned to history
“local culture was obliterated so people could fly in from thousands of miles away”
Yes – there are actually people who make a living organising that
Nice to wake up with some good news.. Thank you national trust
This site is important in that it will join up a couple of other small reserves, namely Sandilands pit and Huttoft bank pit. The walkway along the coast, shown in the photo, is concrete topping the sea wall. Not the most attractive of walks compared to further up the coast.
This will improve things no end.
Let’s also hope that next time a Coul comes up, this site will be referenced to dissuade other developers. Golf truly seems to be on the wane and this is a much better use of the land than houses.
More please.
You’re right this could be a big windfall for conservation. Funnily enough a few weeks ago I read a paper written by a planner in America that was looking at what could be done with all the land that’sbecoming available due to the demise of golf – it really is happening. Housing was one of the options cited, but I suppose even that’s better than it being put on farmland or natural habitats. Not many golf courses seem to have done much about encouraging wildlife so if they do absorb housing not as bad as it could be, but even better great opportunities for habitat creation or urban food growing. Some years ago NASA did a survey using satellite data and found that in the lower forty eight states the land taken up by both lawns and golf courses was equivalent to the area of New York state. That’s enormous and goes a long way to explaining why in the U.S.A they spend about twenty five billion dollars on lawn care products every year. What a waste!
I’ve often found that when I’ve been looking at a map of Edinburgh my attention has drifted to searching for all the golf courses on it and being truly astonished at their number and how much space they take up. Maybe Edinburgh’s a bit worse than most other cities, maybe, but even so that still means a lot of land taken up by golf in and around most of them. Still nowhere near the amount of land that could become available to conservation when (not if ) grouse moors fall, but more clement for some wildlife than way up on the hills. Has the conservation movement got the push to grab these new opportunities?
That’s good news, As others have said golf courses are one of the most destructive agents of wildlife habitats worldwide. In drier countries the golf operators suck all the ground water out the ground to water their “greens” with no thought that any nearby wetlands will in consequence dry out and become useless for wildlife.
£800,000 for 74 poor quality acres. Theres nothing like spending other peoples money
Land is too expensive. This make it impossible for conservation bodies to buy enough to counteract losses to wildlife caused by other uses.
The new Heal Rewilding project will cost 7 million for 500 acres. That is very pricy – and I suppose it will include restructuring buildings to make classrooms and accommodation, which won’t come cheap either! That said love the project and its ambition and hope to be around when we have lots of these throughout UK.
I think you will find it isn’t the latest coastal acquisition since 2012.
In 2015 the NT purchased the 165 hectare coastal Dunsbury Farm on the Isle of Wight, using funds from their Neptune Coatal Campaign. This farm is now being left for Nature to take over.
Wow! Things are certainly happening on the IOW! So its being rewilded – natural bregen etc? Any grazers?