Wild Whittington, located north of Old Whittington, is Derbyshire’s first Biodiversity Net Gain (BNG) habitat bank.
The 24-hectare site was purchased by Derbyshire Wildlife Trust (DWT) in 2023 and the former agricultural site is now being managed for nature and people to enjoy.
Using rewilding, the plan is to create varied habitats to bolster a vital corridor between the woodlands and support nature’s recovery in Chesterfield and the surrounding areas.
In May 2024, Wild Whittington became the first habitat bank in the county to be formally registered on the Biodiversity Gain (BNG) Sites register enabling developers to purchase off-site BGN units to support development schemes and local nature.
DWT is taking a nature led approach to BNG by creating high quality and resilient habitats, delivered in the best place for nature, before the loss occurs.
The site will be managed for nature, under the stewardship of DWT, with all the profits generated, reinvested to secure the best outcomes for nature and have a greater impact for wildlife.
Councillor Martin Stone, councillor for climate change, planning and environment, said: “The site was able to be registered following collaboration with Chesterfield Borough Council on a Section 106 agreement with the council as local planning authority.
“The agreement binds the land with positive environmental commitments and commits the council to monitoring progress on Wild Whittington through the review of regular reports on achieving the Habitat Management and Monitoring Plan objectives.”
Chesterfield Borough Council officers and elected members joined DWT’s team for a celebration of our joint working on site at Wild Whittington in May, where attendees were able to learn more about the management of the site and the program of monitoring work being undertaken which includes habitat condition scoring, bat surveys and acoustic monitoring.
A number of visitors were also able to observe DWT’s ecologist lifting one of the many reptile mats on site in an attempt to spot a basking grass snake. When the site was first acquired, DWT’s ecology team found no signs of grass snakes during baseline surveys, despite historical records suggesting they were once present. The return of these beautiful, non-venomous reptiles is a fantastic indicator of habitat quality.
Councillor Martin Stone continued: “We are proud to be collaborating with the wildlife trust on the site and on a collective vision for nature's recovery across Chesterfield. Both the Wild Whittington habitat bank and the strategic work undertaken on the ‘Plan for Nature’ are important in achieving landscape scale nature recovery and we are excited to see the impact that this has over time.”
The Wild Whittington project also demonstrates how the council can use biodiversity net gain (BNG) legislation to deliver long-term, measurable gains for biodiversity and local communities alike.
Wild Whittington is a biodiversity receptor site which means that developers can purchase biodiversity units on this site where on-site habitat creation is not possible. BNG at Wild Whittington is measured by recording the baseline biodiversity value and then monitoring the site at intervals to measure the biodiversity unit gains over time.
For any enquiries, please contact wildsolutions@derbyshirewt.co.uk.