National Trust takes back land for nature restoration

A 370-acre (150-hectare) area of land on the edge of Cambridge has been returned to the care of the National Trust - for the first time in 60 years.

The area - known as Northfield - runs alongside the opposite side of Quy Road towards Bottisham, seven miles (11km) from the city and close to Anglesey Abbey.

The National Trust hopes to restore the natural site to create new wildlife habitats and improve community access to green space.

Emma Ormond-Bones, general manager of the National Trust's North Cambridgeshire Portfolio, said: "We want Northfield to become a place where nature can thrive, helping wildlife recover and building resilience to a changing climate."

The project comes at a time when Cambridgeshire remains one of the most nature-depleted counties in the UK, where demand for accessible green space is increasing as the county's population rapidly grows.

Northfield has been acquired by the trust for the first time since the 1960s, following an agreement with the owners.

The site has a rich natural and cultural heritage as well as a chalk stream, with the trust describing the area as "a distinctive fen-edge landscape where low-lying fenland meets the higher chalk ridge".

There is evidence of human activity on the site stretching back thousands of years including the Roman period.

The National Trust said it hoped that, over time, species such as harvest mice, water voles and turtle doves would benefit.

Northfield is the first project within the trust's new masterplan for the area, which forms part of a wider Wicken Fen Vision and long-term initiative to "create a more connected and resilient landscape for wildlife and people stretching from Wicken Fen to the edge of Cambridge".

Ormond-Bones added: "Northfield has the potential to deliver meaningful benefit to both people and wildlife and we want local people to play a vital role in helping shape what that future will look like."

The charity said it was keen to understand what mattered most to local people and how the site would become a place people felt connected to, valued and enjoyed for generations to come.

Community drop-in sessions about the vision will be held between Saturday 21 November and Friday 27 November.

Feedback will be used to help inform the next stage of planning before proposals are developed during 2027.

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