Greatworth Habitat Bank

County: Northamptonshire
Local planning authority (LPA): West Northamptonshire Council
National Character Area (NCA): Northamptonshire Uplands
Biodiversity gain sites register number: BGS-131025001

Birds-eye render of Greatworth Habitat Bank before restoration

Very high distinctiveness habitats

Lowland meadows

High distinctiveness habitats

Ponds (priority habitat)
Species-rich native hedgerow with trees
Species-rich native hedgerow — associated with bank or ditch

Medium distinctiveness habitats

Mixed scrub
Other neutral grassland
Other woodland; broadleaved
Rural tree

Low distinctiveness habitats

Modified grassland

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Habitat Bank overview

Greatworth Habitat Bank lies on the border of Oxfordshire and Northamptonshire, just six miles from Banbury. There our ecologists are transforming the existing arable fields (with limited ecological and agricultural value) into a vast mosaic of habitats to mirror the local landscape.

Spanning more than eighty-five acres, our Greatworth Habitat Bank has been well placed to connect valuable habitats across the local area, several of which are named in Northamptonshire’s Biodiversity Action Plan (BAP).

BNG delivery

At each of our Habitat Banks, our team assesses the land at the very start to maximise our biodiversity uplift. During this process we look at the site’s existing wildlife and vegetation, geological features, hydrology, extended management history, and its wider connectivity in the region.

Then, using the statutory biodiversity metric, we take a baseline for each Habitat Bank. Our team carefully considers the land and decides on the best possible habitats that will deliver and demonstrate resilient and adaptable biodiversity gains over our thirty-year management period.

Neighbouring LPAs
Rugby Borough Council
North Northamptonshire Council
Buckinghamshire Council
Milton Keynes City Council
Stratford-on-Avon District Council
Harborough District Council
Cherwell District Council

Neighbouring NCAs
Cotswolds
Leicestershire Vales
Yardley-Whittlewood Ridge
Dunsmore and Feldon
Northamptonshire Vales

Our vision

Greatworth Habitat Bank lies at the heart of a number of designated nature areas and sits directly adjacent a Potential Local Wildlife Site. This makes it perfectly placed to connect vital habitats and support biodiversity on a landscape scale.

The Helmdon Disused Railway Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI) and Farthinghoe Local Nature Reserve (LNR) are nearby, and several Local Wildlife Sites (LWSs) are within a mile of the Habitat Bank, including Cockley Brake, Marston House Ponds, Halse Copse, and Washbrook Lake & Spinney.

Several significant species of wildlife are found in the area, and our goal is to increase numbers of these species through our habitat creation. Notable wildlife native to the area surrounding Greatworth Habitat Bank include great crested newt, common toad, grass snake, polecat, brown hare, water vole.

A public footpath crosses the Habitat Bank, so we’re pleased that members of the local community walking here will also be able to benefit from the work we’re doing as habitats flourish and native wildlife grows in abundance over the coming decades.