National Grid chooses Escrick Park Estate for Yorkshire GREEN eco-scheme
The utility giant has selected the country estate in the North Yorkshire village to deliver its off-site BNG for the infrastructure project, purchasing around 300 biodiversity units to support a nature recovery initiative.
The agreement will help kick-start the estate’s Skipwith Connected project, which aims to restore and reconnect habitats around Skipwith Common, approximately 12 miles from the Yorkshire GREEN scheme.
Based between York and Selby, Escrick Park Estate plans to create around 400 acres of new habitat as part of the initiative, taking the wider connected area to more than 1,000 acres of species-rich landscape.
The project will restore a mix of habitats including lowland fen, ponds, wet and dry grassland, reedbeds, wet woodland, scrub and heathland. More than 1,000 biodiversity units are expected to be available through the habitat bank.
The new habitats will be legally secured through a Conservation Covenant, with management and monitoring required for a minimum of 30 years.
The Yorkshire GREEN project will deliver the required 10% biodiversity net gain through a combination of the partnership with Escrick Park Estate and habitat creation and enhancement around its Overton and Monk Fryston substations.
Measures planned as part of the project include strengthening hedgerows with a greater diversity of native species, planting trees, scrub and wildflower meadows on former agricultural land, creating new aquatic habitats and protecting retained trees and hedgerows.
Skipwith Common is one of the remaining strongholds of northern lowland heath in the Vale of York, where an estimated 97% of the habitat has disappeared over the past 250 years.
Mark Hewitt, conservation lead at Escrick Park Estate, said: “We are extremely excited to have partnered with National Grid to deliver the off-site BNG on the project.
“Restoring and reconnecting habitats at a landscape scale around Skipwith Common National Nature Reserve will help protect this precious site for generations to come.”
Bo Li, senior project manager, said: “Yorkshire GREEN shows how essential energy infrastructure can do more than connect clean power, it can drive major investment in nature recovery, restoring connected habitats, and securing lasting benefits for biodiversity and local communities.
“Through our partnership with Escrick Park Estate, we are helping to restore connected habitats at scale and secure long-term biodiversity benefits alongside this critical network upgrade.”
