Former golf course provides pitstop for migrating birds

A former golf course is set to be transformed into a nature reserve, providing a vital stopping-off point for migrating birds.
Sandilands, a thin strip of land south of Sutton on Sea on the Lincolnshire coast, is being converted into a wetland, giving people a chance to see nature all year round.
A golf course had existed on the 30-hectare site since 1894 but closed six years ago when the company running it went into liquidation. The National Trust bought the land in 2020 thanks to a supporter’s donation.
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“We are going to create a series of open-water islands, reed beds, lily ponds and dry grass habitats — so very mixed habitats, very interesting,” said Carl Hawke, nature conservation adviser at the National Trust.
He expects some quick impacts from changing the water level across the site, but said that regrowing vegetation would take longer.
“Ultimately we hope in the spring and the autumn, when bird migration is under way, it’ll become a really important resting and refuelling station for migrating birds,” he said. “That’s birds moving usually from Africa through Europe, up along the east coast of the country and beyond up into Scandinavia and Siberia, Greenland and Iceland.”
White-fronted geese and pink-footed geese are among the migratory species that rely on the UK’s estuaries and fields along the coast, as well as winter swans.
As well as attracting migratory birds, Hawke expects it will become an important home for breeding birds in spring and summer too.
“One group that we’ll be interested in are the reed-bed birds — so pigeons, marsh harriers, bearded tits,” he said. “Reed will grow really quickly because the coastal strip that this is on was formerly marshland.”
Birds will not be the only beneficiaries. Nearby water voles are also expected to colonise the new wetlands, joining existing badger and deer populations. Frogs and rare toads such as the natterjack are likely to take advantage of a new series of interconnected ponds running the length of the site.
One challenge has been designing the wetlands in a way that does not affect sea defences and nearby homes. However, the big test has been inflationary pressures pushing up the cost of construction, from the rising price of diesel fuel to materials, meaning initial plans for a visitor centre have been delayed to a later phase.
Construction work is due to finish late next year, with the changes to fauna and flora expected to take up to a decade.
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Separately, the government was warned that it risks missing its target of protecting 30 per cent of land and oceans for nature by 2030. The goal was agreed as part of a landmark UN biodiversity deal nearly two years ago.
IPPR, a think tank, claimed that only 3 per cent of England’s land and 8 per cent of its seas were “effectively” protected. The group uses a stricter definition of protected areas than the government, which has previously insisted it is on track to achieve the nature target.
Golf courses cover about 1,250 sq km of UK land, about 0.5 per cent of the total, making them a potentially sizeable source of land for meeting the country’s climate and biodiversity goals.