South Yorkshire Coalfields

 

Aims and achievements

The South Yorkshire Coalfields Restoration project has been undertaken and managed by the Sherwood and Lincolnshire Forest District.

This project started in 2001 and by the end of 2005 has been responsible for the successful restoration of over 400 hectares of brownfield land.  The sites consist of a mixture of:

• Woodland
• Grassland (amenity, rough and conservation)
• Birdscrape
• Water margins
• Open water
• Reed beds.

In addition to urban greening, the objectives of the project are to encourage community engagement, conservation management and social enterprise, provide a recreation and educational resource as well as commercial timber production.

Funding

On the majority of the sites, the restoration has been funded by the regional development agency, Yorkshire Forward, through English Partnerships.  The land ownership has then passed to the Land Restoration Trust who fund the Forestry Commission to manage and maintain the site through a dowry from English Partnerships.

The exception is Edlington Colliery, where the site restoration was funded through a coal washing scheme by Odgens in conjunction with the Forestry Commission and Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council.  The ongoing maintenance and management are funded jointly by the Forestry Commission and Doncaster Metropolitan Borough Council.