Portsmouth Water unveils wild plans for reservoir site

Portsmouth Water plans to “re-wild” 80-hectares of local farmland as part of its Havant Thicket Reservoir project to offset “unavoidable loss woodland” from the site. According to the water company, the project exceeds the planning requirements for the site.

The water company has agreed with charitable environmental trust, the Pig Shed Trust, to turn agricultural areas of South Holt Farm into a sanctuary for wildlife. The land is some 2km north east of the reservoir site.

The Pig Shed Trust will work with Portsmouth Water over the next 80 years to “re-wild” the farm by developing woodland, wood pasture and grassland habitats. The trust uses natural processes where possible, which result has a lower carbon footprint than other methods of tree planting. The trust’s primary focus is on invertebrates, particularly butterflies.

These works are part of Portsmouth Water’s commitment to plant and improve over 200 hectares of woodland and wood pasture locally, including planting more than 6,000 trees on the edge of the reservoir site, restoring streams and carrying out extensive improvements to established woodland in nearby Southleigh Forest and Havant Thicket.

Environmental Manager for Havant Thicket Reservoir, Liz Brown, said: “While unfortunately there is unavoidable loss of woodland from site, we have designed a package of bespoke habitat enhancements that goes above and beyond the requirements of our planning application to ensure we deliver a significant environmental net gain for the area.

“Rather than planting trees, we are taking an innovative approach and will be letting the woodland grow naturally. This is likely to ensure a much better success rate, with a far higher percentage of trees surviving and thriving. We’ll be monitoring the site very closely as the rewilding project progresses and look forward to sharing updates.”

• Portsmouth Water has received a Royal Society for the Prevention of Accidents Distinction Award for outstanding performance in Health and Safety. The water company has also been placed first in the water industry for the first quarter 2023 results of C-MeX – the index of water company customer experience.