Red House Farm Habitat Bank, Doncaster

This scheme has seen the transformation of 23.78 hectares of previously inaccessible agricultural land into a publicly accessible ecological landscape that supports recreation, wellbeing and environment education alongside biodiversity recovery.

Located directly adjacent to Sandall Beat SSSI and surrounding residential communities, the site reconnects people with nature through permissive access routes, landscape interpretation, and long-term stewardship.

Regenerative landscape techniques were integrated throughout habitat establishment to restore degraded agricultural soils, reduce embodied carbon and support long-term ecological resilience. Innovative approaches included fungal inoculation, localised soil improvement and low-carbon direct seeding methodologies designed to reintroduce beneficial woodland microbial activity and improve establishment success.

Monitoring during the first season shows encouraging results for biodiversity and habitat management, with key achievements including 8-12 species per m2 (across grassland monitoring quadrants), significantly increased pollinator activity, and successful establish of wildflower, scrub, woodland and wetland habitats.

106.92 units will be available for sale on the National Sites Register. The rest are being used to offset the impact of a pre mandatory BNG development.

Red House Farm Habitat Bank is supported by a comprehensive Habitat Management and Monitoring Plan (HMMP), establishing a 30-year framework for ecological stewardship, habitat condition monitoring and adaptive landscape management. Long-term monitoring undertaken by City of Doncaster Council and specialist consulting extends beyond biodiversity net gain requirements and informs ongoing management decisions across the site.

The project has already received positive recognition for its innovative approach to publicly accessible biodiversity recovery, regenerative landscape delivery, and long-term environmental stewardship, and  was announced as the winner of the Biodiversity & Ecology title at the Landscape Institute Yorkshire & Humber Awards 2026.