‘Exciting’ £38m initiative to create ‘Great North Fen’ is launched with a blessing - Durham Wildlife Trust

PLANS for the creation of an extended £38m Great North Fen on County Durham countryside have been described as “exciting” during a ceremony to launch the ambitious scheme.

The Great North Fen, the creation and restoration of fenland along the banks of the River Skerne to the east of Newton Aycliffe, was originally intended to cover 500 hectares when the plans were first mooted in 2018.

However, Jim Cokill, director of Durham Wildlife Trust, told a gathering of funders, partners, and other supporters at Hardwick Hall Hotel, near Sedgefield, that the project was being increased to 850 acres.

“It will probably cost £38m, which is an enormous amount of money, but it is has the potential to generate £130m of income,” said Mr Cokill. “This could come from a variety of sources including environmental grants and new approaches to land management and the sale of environmental credits”.

The announcement came at an event to mark the end of the Discover Brightwater Landscape Partnership, launched in 2018 as a £3.3m project to “restore, reveal and celebrate life around the River Skerne”.

One of the main legacies of Discover Brightwater is the creation of Bishop’s Fen, which covers 23 hectares of improved wetland habitats to the south of Bishop Middleham, where scrapes and channels have been created in the pastures.

Bishop’s Fen is the first part of the proposed Great North Fen, which will stretch down from Bishop Middleham to Preston-le-Skerne, near Newton Aycliffe.

After the gathering at Hardwick Hall Hotel, those attending the event were taken by bus to Bishop’s Fen, where the site was officially opened and blessed by the Venerable Rick Simpson, Archdeacon of Auckland, and the Church of England diocesan lead on the environment and climate change.