HUNTINGDONSHIRE District Council is to lend the Great Fen Project �1.2million to take control of some farmland between Ramsey and Peterborough. The money will be handed over within the next two years and will be used to buy leases on land already owned by

HUNTINGDONSHIRE District Council is to lend the Great Fen Project �1.2million to take control of some farmland between Ramsey and Peterborough.

The money will be handed over within the next two years and will be used to buy leases on land already owned by the project, following agreement by the council's cabinet last week.

The Great Fen Project aims to turn 9,000 acres of farmland into a nature reserve, returning much of the land to the state if was in before the Fens were drained.

The area includes Holme Fen, Ramsey St Mary's, Woodwalton Fen and Ramsey Heights, near Upwood.

Councillor Doug Dew, the portfolio holder for planning who also sits on the Great Fen Project steering panel, told The Hunts Post the money was being loaned at the market rate and would be repaid within four years.

Cllr Dew added: "Initially, the project was to have taken the next 60 to 90 years but it has gone ahead in leaps and bounds and the project now owns 60 per cent of the land it needs. This investment is a great opportunity, a win-win situation.