Housebuilder Keepmoat is to invest more than £580,000 to support the council in a West Yorkshire town with the delivery of priority benefits for the local area, including a range of ecology incentives.
Keepmoat’s investment will aid Wakefield Council’s Countryside and Green Spaces (Street Scene) team, which is responsible for maintaining and improving the countryside in and around the city to help wildlife native to the area thrive.
The investment, which will be split across the housebuilder’s The Vale development in Upton and its Station View development in South Elmsall, will specifically focus on implementing Biodiversity Net Gain schemes in Pontefract, in line with council targets.
The Council’s team has been developing BNG incentives to support habitat management at the two developments, as well as producing monitoring plans for the local nature reserves in the district, the closest of which is the Former Upton Colliery – which the money invested by Keepmoat is helping to fund.
Following this, the housebuilder’s investment will be spent on the rollout of the habitat management strategies and monitoring works on the ground. Both developments are flagship schemes for the housebuilder, following the implementation of BNG regulation in the UK this year.
The new legislation requires developers to provide a BNG of at least 10 percent for new developments in England, with the aim to ensure that developments have a positive impact on the natural environment.
Regional Managing Director, Chris Clingo at Keepmoat, Yorkshire West, commented: “Keepmoat is delighted to be regenerating South Elmsall and Upton and transforming an area that was subject to anti-social behaviour and fly-tipping, into a vibrant community. The new developments will bring much needed, high-quality new homes and significant investment to the local area.
“Our BNG incentives are a testament to Keepmoat’s commitment to regenerating West Yorkshire towns and maintaining wildlife habitats and ecological priorities. We are proud to be working alongside local councils to make improvements to the local area for future generations.”
