Member Article

Reserve bought from Alcan for princely sum of £1.00

Rio Tinto Alcan has passed a piece of land in Northumberland to Northumberland Wildlife Trust, for the princely sum of £1.00.

The wildlife charity has taken over the freehold of Cresswell Pond, immediately north of Cresswell Village, which is in the vicinity of one its most popular reserves (Hauxley) from Alcan Farms.

Previously leasehold, Cresswell Pond has been managed as part of the Alcan Farms business since 1973 and is a wildlife haven for otters and breeding birds and its saline lagoon is a nationally recognised site of special scientific interest (SSSI).

In 2011, two avocet chicks hatched their way into Northumberland’s record books on the site, by being the UK’s most northerly pair of breeding avocets.

The Trust will discuss the management of the site with Crown Estates which has bought the rest of the land linked to Rio Tinto’s mothballed aluminium smelter, on how the land can be best managed to protect wildlife whilst at the same time, continuing to offer visitors the opportunity to enjoy one of Northumberland’s hidden gems. Crown Estates retains a leasehold interest in the Pond for the duration of a Higher Level Stewardship on the land.

Duncan Hutt, Head of Land Management at the Trust said: “We have managed the site alongside Alcan Farms for many years now, so it is wonderful that, when the land was being sold off, the Company recognised our involvement and knowledge of the site, not to mention its environmental importance, and handed it over to us.”

This was posted in Bdaily's Members' News section by Sue Bishop .