A building featuring a wildlife watch tower, laboratory, meeting spaces and dormitories is to be erected in a nature reserve near York.

Natural England has received planning approval from City of York Council for the development in the Green Belt at the Lower Derwent Valley National Nature Reserve at Wheldrake.

The government body says the reserve is as important for its grassland and breeding grounds for birds as York Minster and its Roman walls are to York’s history.

Wheldrake is the breeding ground for 60% of the wild English Corncrake bird population and is visited by 60-70% of the UK’s waterfowl.

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Furthermore, annual visitor numbers have increased from 20,000 before the pandemic to 40,000 today, with its level of public interest on an “increasing trajectory.”

The new buildings, Natural England said was ‘essential’ for its research work on the reserve’s birdlife, which are of European significance.

Plans for the single storey building with rooftop viewing space on the 0.4ha site at Bank Island, Church Lane, associated with the reserve, were initially submitted in January 2023 and revised last August.

The changes were to site the building further away from a public right of way and use different materials to make it fit in better with the environment.

A report by council planning noted the application was supported by Wheldrake Parish council and it received 19 letters of support.

York Press: A corncrake

Assessing the application, planners noted the proposed development sought in general to extend upon the existing operational functions of the reserve.

But the proposed meeting spaces, offices and educational and research provisions would be inappropriate for and harmful to the Green Belt.

The building would be 5.2m high, covering 287.8 m2 and erected on the highest part of the land and despite screening from a hedge, “would be a visible change to the landscape.”

It would also “encroach on the natural characteristics and setting” of the reserve and harm the openness of the Green Belt.

However, the materials and design of the proposed building have been amended to “assimilate with the existing nature and character” of the reserve. Its mass and footprint have also been designed to be in keeping with it.

Planning officers noted the importance of Bank Island and Wheldrake Ings for birdlife and the existing building needing four staff, plus volunteers, to monitor it.

The number of volunteers and visitors has been rising, with the new building needed to accommodate them and the wider research and education at the reserve, as well as provide community-based functions.

Their report noted no other suitable long-term alternative site existed nearby and the existing building could not be extended as it would need extensive structural work, which would also disrupt operations at the site and damage valuable habitat.

In addition to ‘ground-breaking’ research, the site was used for corporate events and by the NHS to promote health and well-being.

Mitigation measures would also deliver a net gain in biodiversity.

Therefore, it would deliver the ‘very special circumstances’ to outweigh harm to the openness of the Green Belt and should be approved, planning officers concluded.