The Wildlife Trust has secured �280,000 to create a giant reedbed in Huntingdonshire as part of its transformation of part of the district’s countryside.

The Wildlife Trust has secured �280,000 to create a giant reedbed in Huntingdonshire as part of its transformation of part of the district’s countryside.

Two hundred and fifty thousand pounds was secured from Waste Recycling Environmental’s Biodiversity Action Fund and will help to transform 500 acres of former arable land between Huntingdon and Peterborough.

The trust also received a grant of �30,000 from the Environmental Agency to assist with the design of the site, to be known as Rymes Reedbed.

Great Fen Project manager Katie Carver told The Hunts Post: “We are currently in the design process with specialists and are proposing to deliver a mosaic of habitats which will attract a wide range of new wildlife species into the area.”

Once the design is complete, the trust will submit a planning application to Huntingdonshire District Council – expected early next year with work starting late summer.

As well as the reedbed, the site will feature small ponds and pools, water grassland, and dry grassland to attract land mammals such as badgers and Muntjac deer.

“The whole process of transforming the land will take between five and 10 years,” Ms Carver added. “One of the first things we want to do on gaining planning permission is to install a viewing platform on the site, so people will be able to watch the whole process take place.”

INFORMATION: The Great Fen Project aims to restore over 3,000 hectares (7,500 acres) of fenland habitat. See www.greatfen.org.uk