Stretton-on-Fosse Habitat Bank

County: Warwickshire
Local planning authority (LPA): Stratford-on-Avon District Council
National Character Area (NCA): Cotswolds

Birds-eye render of Stretton-on-Fosse Habitat Bank before restoration

Very high distinctiveness habitats

Lowland meadows

High distinctiveness habitats

Ponds (priority habitat)
Species-rich native hedgerow with trees

Medium distinctiveness habitats

Mixed scrub
Other neutral grassland
Other woodland; broadleaved
Rural tree

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Habitat Bank overview

Just east of the village of Stretton-on-Fosse in Warwickshire, our ecologists are transforming almost sixty-five acres of low-biodiversity arable and pasture fields into thriving Habitat Bank which features several priority habitats named on the Warwickshire Local Biodiversity Action Plan – ponds, hedgerows, lowland meadows, and broadleaved woodland.

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.

Neighbouring LPAs
West Oxfordshire District Council
Rugby Borough Council
Wychavon District Council
Cotswold District Council
West Northamptonshire Council
Solihull Metropolitan Borough Council
Warwick District Council
Redditch Borough Council
Cherwell District Council
Bromsgrove District Council
Warwickshire County Council

Neighbouring NCAs
Severn and Avon Vales
Northamptonshire Uplands
Mendip Hills
Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire Claylands
Avon Vales
Bristol, Avon Valleys and Ridges
Upper Thames Clay Vales
Yardley-Whittlewood Ridge
Dunsmore and Feldon

Our vision

At Stretton-on-Fosse Habitat Bank, we’re working closely with the local farmer who has been running an organic farm for nearly two decades. Their livestock will be used to help manage the grasslands using low-intensity grazing to encourage biodiversity. Our work here will support the grassland restoration already underway on the rest of the farm and help form part of a wider network of habitats.

Along the southern boundary of the Habitat Bank, we’re extending the existing broadleaved woodland and thinning the trees to allow sunlight to hit the woodland floor and offer fantastic deadwood habitats for wildlife.

By building a mosaic of woodland, scrub, ponds, and grassland around the stream, Pig Brook, which runs through the Habitat Bank, we’ll be able to create a perfect wetland home for invertebrates and small mammals. This includes species like Eurasian water shrew, which have been sighted in the area.

A public footpath runs through the Habitat Bank, so people from the local area who walk here will be able to enjoy watching the space flourish over the next three decades. We hope they will get a chance to see wildlife grow in abundance, including several bird species like skylark, yellowhammer, kestrel, and song thrush.