Snettisham Habitat Bank

County: Norfolk
Local planning authority (LPA): Borough Council of King's Lynn and West Norfolk
National Character Area (NCA): The Fens

Birds-eye render of Snettisham Habitat Bank before restoration

Biodiversity Units available:

Medium distinctiveness habitats

Mixed scrub
Other neutral grassland

Habitat Bank overview

Less than a mile from the Norfolk coast and connected to the RSPB Snettisham Reserve, this 17-hectare Habitat Bank is designed to support the coastline’s valuable biodiversity.

We are transforming a previous grassland to become a range of thriving habitats that are crucial for multiple species, including internationally important migratory birds, a variety of pollinators, and mammals like bats, otters, and water voles.

BNG delivery

At every Habitat Bank, we always look at the land to determine what can be achieved from the very start. Our biodiversity experts assess the soil, wildlife, vegetation, geology, hydrology, management history, and connectivity across the local landscape.

We take a baseline for each Habitat Bank using the statutory biodiversity metric. We carefully select the best possible habitats for us to establish so we can deliver and demonstrate measurable biodiversity gains over time.

Biodiversity Units from this Habitat Bank are ready to purchase now, subject to availability. Provided alongside expert planning support, these Biodiversity Units offer an effective local off-site BNG solution for the Borough Council of King’s Lynn and West Norfolk LPA and The Fens NCA.

Coverage

Adjacent LPAs	Adjacent NCAs
Breckland Council	The Brecks
West Suffolk Council	Kesteven Uplands
Fenland District Council	East Anglian Chalk
North Norfolk District Council	North West Norfolk
South Holland District Council	Central Lincolnshire Vale
East Cambridgeshire District Council	Southern Lincolnshire Edge
	Lincolnshire Coast and Marshes
	Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire Claylands

Our vision

Between the River Ingol and RSPB Nature Reserve, our Snettisham Habitat Bank is designed to connect essential coastal and wetland habitats to help restore the land’s ecosystems. With the surrounding water and intended wetlands in mind, our ecologists are working to improve the soil’s health and water retention – helping support water security and natural flood management.

With 37% of the nation’s agricultural output supplied from East Anglia alone, building on the soil’s biodiversity will help benefit the region’s farming land. Nurturing the local landscape through habitat restoration, we’re taking proactive steps to reverse the effects of soil erosion and the decline of biodiversity, transforming the health of soil in such a vital area for food production.

Guided by the expertise of our qualified ecologists, we aim to foster healthy habitats for local flora and fauna – these habitats include woody scrub and grassland.

Our goal is to support a variety of species such as oystercatchers, redshank, water voles, common shrews, smooth newts, and bats, to name a few. We are especially excited to create a space that encourages nightingales, a species now rarely seen in the UK, to return and grow in abundance.