{"id":359379,"date":"2025-12-21T08:29:11","date_gmt":"2025-12-21T08:29:11","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/359379\/"},"modified":"2025-12-21T08:29:11","modified_gmt":"2025-12-21T08:29:11","slug":"plans-for-large-nature-reserve","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/359379\/","title":{"rendered":"Plans for large nature reserve"},"content":{"rendered":"

Eleanor LawsonWest Midlands<\/p>\n

\"GoogleGoogle<\/p>\n

The former Brandon Wood Golf Course could be transformed into a nature reserve which would become the largest in the West Midlands<\/p>\n

An abandoned former golf course which costs around \u00a370,000 a year to maintain could become home to the largest nature reserve in the West Midlands.<\/p>\n

Brandon Wood Golf Course closed to the public in 2020 and Coventry City Council is now discussing plans to turn it into a 64-hectare nature reserve, 6km away from Coventry city centre.<\/p>\n

The reserve would link with surrounding land to create over 350 hectares of land dedicated to preserving wildlife, with the potential to support ospreys, otters and beavers.<\/p>\n

Plans will be discussed at\u202f cabinet\u202fon\u202f6 January and\u202fwill go to full council the following week. If councillors agree, the scheme could begin in 2026.<\/p>\n

Approval of the plans would see the golf course’s fairways, greens and bunkers replaced with wetland, grassland, ponds, hedgerows and shrubs, which would be created and maintained by experts from the Warwickshire Wildlife Trust.<\/p>\n

This would include introducing a herd of cattle on the site for natural grazing.<\/p>\n

A number of options had previously been considered, including a hotel, glamping site, solar farm, and gravel extraction.<\/p>\n

However, none were considered financially or environmentally suitable, and the area is also prone to flooding.<\/p>\n

One in six species currently at risk of extinction<\/p>\n

\"GettyGetty Images<\/p>\n

Warwickshire Wildlife Trust says the proposed site could become home to ospreys which are on the UK Amber List<\/p>\n

Councillor Jim O’Boyle said: “This is a\u202funique opportunity to\u202fcreate something\u202fvery special, not just for the city and the region, but for the country’s wildlife.<\/p>\n

“We know the UK is one of the most nature depleted nations in the world, with one in six species at risk of extinction,\u202fand\u202feveryone\u202fhas to\u202ftake action.<\/p>\n

“We\u202fmade a\u202fcommitment in\u202fthe council’s\u202fClimate Change Strategy to\u202fdo all we can to\u202fsupport nature recovery\u202f-\u202fand this site presents a significant opportunity to do that\u202fat\u202fa\u202fscale\u202frarely seen.”<\/p>\n

The council would need to\u202fobtain\u202fplanning permission\u202ffor the change of use from Rugby Borough Council and would then work with Warwickshire County Council and other partners to develop the site.<\/p>\n

That includes\u202fWarwickshire Wildlife Trust, which manages\u202fland\u202faround the golf course and has its headquarters at\u202fthe\u202fneighbouring\u202fBrandon Marsh Nature Reserve.<\/p>\n

Mr O’Byle said there was also the possibility of building an outdoor education centre on the site of the old clubhouse. <\/p>\n

Plan will be financed by property developers<\/p>\n

\"BenBen Andrew\/RSPB\/PA Media<\/p>\n

The site would be ideal for bitterns, a species of bird declared extinct in the UK in the late 1800s as a result of persecution and habitat loss<\/p>\n

Councillors are to discuss a\u202fplan for\u202fa phased development, with the financial cost supported through\u202fincome generated from property developers who are\u202frequired\u202fto improve natural habitats as party of any project.<\/p>\n

Ed Green, CEO of Warwickshire Wildlife Trust, said, “Bringing the former golf course into management for wildlife joins up several sites across the wider Brandon area and creates the scale needed to support several key species. <\/p>\n

“People in the future can expect to see ospreys, bitterns and perhaps even beavers one day, just a few minutes from Coventry city centre.”<\/p>\n

If the council\u202ffails to\u202ftake action, the land\u202fwould\u202fcontinue to cost\u202faround \u00a370,000\u202fa year to\u202fmaintain, along with a continued risk of the site being used for fly-tipping and anti-social behaviour.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Eleanor LawsonWest Midlands Google The former Brandon Wood Golf Course could be transformed into a nature reserve which…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":359380,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[443],"tags":[49,48,622,82],"class_list":["post-359379","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-golf","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-golf","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359379","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=359379"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/359379\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/359380"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=359379"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=359379"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=359379"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}