Nature reserves bid for £11.5m improvement cash

The neighbouring St Aidan's and Fairburn Ings nature reserves are both managed by the RSPB

Two West Yorkshire nature reserves could benefit from up to £11.5m in funding to help further boost visitor numbers.

The neighbouring St Aidan's and Fairburn Ings, which are both managed by the RSPB, would see updated facilities and refurbished animal viewing shelters if funding applications are approved.

The RSPB is planning an £8.5m bid to the National Heritage Lottery Fund, with landowner Leeds City Council backing the scheme in principle.

In a report, the local authority described the two sites near Castleford as "valuable community assets" and "homes to rare wetland bird species".

The RSPB has managed Fairburn Ings since 1977 and St Aidan’s since 2017 under a lease with the council.

The report said the majority of the money would be spent on St Aidan’s, which would get a new cafe and visitor centre, events space and an extension to its car park.

Rare birds spotted at the reserves near Castleford include spoonbills

Improvements at Fairburn Ings would include refurbished viewing shelters, the Local Democracy Reporting Service said.

“The sites are large, between them totalling 650 hectares, and consist of a range of natural habitats including reedbeds, wetlands, grasslands, hedgerows and woodlands which are home to a wide range of wildlife,” the report said.

If the funding bid was successful, the project would be carried out over five and a half years at the former coal mining sites.

The report concluded: “It is anticipated that, if successful, the project will enable the RSPB to make St Aidan’s financially sustainable in the long term, while improving the visitor facilities and natural environment that have made it so popular so far.”

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