Former Ilkeston golf course to be wholly transformed into nature reserve

Work is set to begin on turning the 25-acre site into a "wildlife haven", months after a plan to slice and sell part of the land to developers was defeated.

The money is coming from the UK Shared Prosperity Fund and Section 106 funds from the New Stanton Park Development, so residents will not have to pay any council tax towards the project.

It will be completed over the next two to three years, and will feature "wildflower meadows, orchards, footpaths, benches and picnic tables" - although the first things to be installed will be butterfly and bee banks.

The council says that over nine in ten residents backed their plans for the site in a survey, and Councillor Mark Alfrey says that the development is the embodiment of "the principles of rewilding" with its biodiversity.

"The reserve is not only good news for wildlife"

- Ben Carter, Derbyshire Wildlife Trust

Environmental groups are welcoming the news - Ben Carter, the Director of Development at the Derbyshire Wildlife Trust, says that critters and wildlife will be returning "at what is a critical time for nature."

He continued: "The reserve is not only good news for wildlife, its great news for local residents and visitors who will be able to enjoy the area and watch as it becomes richer for nature over the next few years."

Pictured above are the two buildings on the site, which have been described in a council report as regularly falling "foul of antisocial behaviour and vandalism."

The former Pewit golf course closed in 2022, a mere four years before its one hundredth anniversary (the site had been a council-ran golf course since 1926).

Following its closure there was an uproar from residents and environmental groups earlier this year over plans to sell off a parcel of land declared "surplus to the council's requirements."

There were fears based upon the wording in the report it would be turned into houses, though the land's disposal was eventually vetoed by the borough council's cabinet.