LPA: Barnsley Metropolitan Borough Council
NCA: Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Yorkshire Coalfield
Biodiversity Gain Site No: BGS-260225002
High Distinctiveness Units
High Distinctiveness Lakes – 8.39 Units
Open Mosaic – 72.73 Units
Woodland & Forest – 5.75 Units
Neutral Grassland – 13.59 Units
Heathland & Scrub – 9.72 Units
Hedgerow – 9.27 Units
Local Context
Stairfoot Habitat Bank, comprising some 50 acres situated within Barnsley Borough Council, located off Wombwell Lane (A633) and bounded by established residential development to the north. The site lies within the Nottinghamshire, Derbyshire and Yorkshire Coalfield NCA.
Comprising a complex of former clay pits dating back to the 1900’s, minerals extracted fed the adjacent brickworks which was one of the largest in the UK. A number of the clay pits were infilled by the local authority in the 1970’s and 1980’s with resultant landfill gas used in the brick kilns. The industrial heritage of the site enables a wide range of enhanced habitats to be created and managed at Stairfoot.
As part of the nature re-build, GEDG will restore the last remaining clayvoid, which currently floods, and this will then be incorporated into theHabitat Bank.
Habitat
The site currently comprises of poor and moderate standards of grassland, woodland, bare ground, scrub and non-priority habitat ponds.
The project will create some 72.73 open mosaic habitat units, along with 5.75 units of woodland and forest, 13.59 units of neutral grassland, 9.72 units of heathland and scrub, 18.39 units of high distinctiveness Lakes and 9.27 hedgerow units.
A core element of the project is the unique creation of new open mosaic habitats, which is a unique specialism of GEDG and thus enabling considerable off-site brownfield redevelopment to take place in line with government targets.
Social Value
The Stairfoot Habitat Bank is firstly a project for nature conservation but is also designed with community engagement at its heart. Enabling considered public access provides significant benefits to human health and mental wellbeing. GEDG uniquely supports local communities through funding and access to our habitat banks, providing educational opportunities to local schools, in this case Oakhill Primary School.
GEDG’s approach to this site will provide buyers of units with additionality in terms of species monitoring and community engagement. GEDG are retaining Middlemarch Environmental, owned by Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, to monitor the habitat bank over the 30-year management period.
