New nature reserves take shape near Sizewell C in Suffolk

Plans for the new Sizewell C plant have divided local opinions - but it is also the impetus behind a new wave of "re-wilding" efforts now springing up around it - neighbouring and expanding on some nationally highly significant wildlife habitats such as Minsmere and Sizewell Marshes.

Energy company EDF spent £5m on buying up 67ha Aldhurst Farm - once an onion farm - transforming it into Wild Aldhurst.

The new nature reserve - which includes wetlands hand-planted with 120,000 reed stems grown specially in a nursery - is also aimed at providing recreational space for the residents of Leiston and further afield. Weirs control water levels in a series of lagoons in one part of the reserve.

Sizewell C expects to submit plans shortly to add a lagoon hide, extend its parking area and add a visitor centre near the entrance.

The farm was snapped up by the firm when it came on the market about a decade or so ago and has since undergone a "wilding" transformation.

Wildlife is already populating it in numbers - from dragonflies including protected species Norfolk hawkers to kingfishers, eels, badgers, reed warblers and otters. The invertebrate population is close to achieving Favourable Conservation Status, said Dr Mannings.

One of the most prized returns is the marsh harrier. There are also spectacular herds of red deer - although the deer population is carefully managed - across the estate.

Other parts of the massive 600ha Sizewell estate are in varying stages of being returned to nature and some of those areas could follow in Wild Aldhurst's footsteps in opening up to the public.

A 54 ha area to the south of the power stations has the working name of Studio Field Complex, but is not - for the moment at least - open to the public. It is undergoing its own transformation to a mixed landscape including heathland.

"This is our first nature reserve that we don't talk about," explained Dr Mannings. 

A third site was taken out of arable production in 2016 and new wetland has been created there over a similar acreage to that of Wild Aldhurst.

The area which will be occupied by the new Sizewell C plant will be 33ha - but areas used temporarily for construction purposes will eventually be rewilded once redundant.

Over the lifetime of Sizewell C, the plant owners have committed to spending a considerable sum - £78m - on nature projects across east Suffolk.

Various planning consent obligations mean that developers of the new plant have to offset and mitigate any harm caused by the building work.

This has included removing wildlife from the construction site - from water voles to reptiles - and taking them to safer spots at Aldhurst and other natural spaces being created.

Leading the efforts is Dr Steve Mannings - Development Consent Order (DCO) delivery lead for the Sizewell C project - and his team, which includes ecologist Alan Lewis.

Before Sizewell C took over ownership, Aldhurst was an intensively farmed area, similar to many Suffolk coastland sites. Now, while in time grazing animals might be brought in to help manage the site, its days as highly productive farmland are over.

"You look at this landscape. These places are dynamic - these communities are not static," he said.

Other parts of the Sizewell estate that were farmed by tenant farmers are also being turned back to nature, but as Dr Mannings explained, this is also carefully managed to create the "right" type of habitat.

"We worked with our tenant farmers basically. They don't now farm any land in our estate," he said.

The area's sandy soils mean that nutrients and water can't be retained in the same way as on the county's heavy land, so in order to produce the large quantities of onions, potatoes and other vegetables for which the area is famed, inputs such as fertiliser are essential.

But the porous nature of the soils means that returning the farms to the kinds of habitats they once were can be achieved more quickly. However, you do have to be patient, said Dr Mannings, and each year different plants dominate parts of the landscape as it evolves.

"This is never going to look like Westleton Heath which is wall-to-wall heather, " he explained. "This is what this land would have looked like pre-World War Two."

However, heather is part of the mix, along with scrubland and gorse and grassland.

Steve and the team have worked closely with nature bodies such as the local wildlife trust with the aim of "creating and restoring this land to create this really valuable landscape".

"It's called the Suffolk Sandlings and it develops on the soils we have - it's sandy soil called crag sand and it's quite infertile," he explained.

"We had a vision and the vision was to restore a sandlings landscape. That's what we are doing and we are proud of that."

Soils dug from ditches on the estate have been collected and periodically spread over the land so the seeds within them can start to provide the mosaic of plant life which is indigenous to the area. Brashings - or heather cuttings - have also been gathered and recycled on the new nature areas over the past 10 years.

Planting has also taken place on an industrial scale - on the reed beds - as part of the transformation. Earthworks have created lagoons and beetle banks.

"The scale of the land we own is huge - it's 600 ha," said Dr Mannings.  The £78m which will go into nature would make a real impact, he added.

"It's a transformative sum of money for landscape biodiversity going across East Suffolk. What we are looking to do is to encourage projects that reflect some of the stuff we are doing on site and gap funding to create diverse landscaping."

Local communities will be able to come up with ideas and apply for funding, he added.

A bridleway is planned near a road perimeter along Sandy Lane, extending the quiet recreational area. In another area, dog walkers are welcome and can take their pets off lead.

"Basically what we are about is creating space for nature but also connections with people but it has to be in a sensible way. It has to be with all the benefits of working in a beautiful landscape.

"We want to see more people in Wild Aldhurst - people who use it love it but we need to do a bigger job of letting people know we are here."

They have invested in good quality fenced walkways and are looking at making the Aldhurst wite wheelchair-friendly, he said. 

"We have been ambitious," he said. "We are connecting the heritage coast with Leiston."