Sheffield conservationists want to trace new owner of wildlife haven

Volunteers have carefully cared for a plot of land on Rivelin Valley Road for the past 20 years and tried to buy the site when it recently came up for sale.

Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust offered the £100,000 asking price but it was sold to someone else.

Now volunteers want to reach out to the new owner to talk to them about the future. They have made an approach through the estate agents, to no avail.

Volunteer, Gregory Norminton, said: “It’s an 11 acre site which has re-wilded itself and local people have been looking after it, picking up litter and keeping the footpath open for years.

“It lies between an area of ancient woodland owned by the council and is part of a wildlife corridor right on the edge of green belt.

“We just want to find out who the new owner is and how we can work together. We are hoping to reach out to them.

“We understand it’s someone local who has bought the land, which is encouraging because we don’t want this to be land banked for future development.

“We hope the owner wants to keep it as it is. They may not realise how much people care about it and we can help by providing volunteers to maintain it and do conservation work.”

The new owner can contact Sheffield and Rotherham Wildlife Trust on 0114 263 4335.