A COMMUNITY ALTERNATIVE FOR DONISTHORPE
A wilder
future for
The Hobneys
Instead of housing, imagine land held for people and nature: flower rich meadows alive with pollinators, healthy ponds, connected hedgerows and welcoming paths, stewarded by the community for generations.
The Hobneys could become a place where nature is restored, people feel ownership, and Donisthorpe gains a living landscape on its doorstep.
One Place. Many Benefits.
THE VISION
The proposal is not to leave the land untouched. It is to care for it deliberately guided by ecological surveys, local knowledge and a long-term management plan.
Connected habitats
Strengthen hedgerows, field margins and woodland edges so wildlife can move between the Hobneys, Hobday Hills Plantation and the wider landscape.
A lasting legacy
Secure the land and its management for the long term, measure progress and pass on a healthier landscape to future generations.
Living ponds
Nurture existing ponds and wet features, improve water quality and establish varied margins, following surveys and specialist advice.
Community stewardship
Build a transparent local stewardship group with residents, schools, land managers and nature organisations involved in decisions and care.
Pollinator meadows
Create connected areas of locally appropriate wildflowers and tussocky grassland for bees, butterflies, moths and other invertebrates.
Nature for everyone
Provide welcoming, low-impact paths, seating and opportunities for quiet enjoyment, with accessibility considered from the outset.
FROM IDEA TO DELIVERY
Good intentions need a credible route to delivery. The first stage is evidence and partnership, not planting everything at once.
A practical
community
nature plan
A strategically placed opportunity
WHY THE HOBNEYS
The evidence gathered so far makes a strong case for investigating a nature-led alternative. It does not replace detailed ecological surveys or prove that protected species are present.
Beside a recorded
conservation site
Potential buffer
and link
A greenspace gap remains
Close to the community
An Environment Agency decision document identified Hobday Hills Plantation among non-statutory local wildlife and conservation sites in the surrounding assessment area. Its current status and boundary should be confirmed with LRERC.
Local biodiversity guidance recognises field margins, hedges, ditches and watercourses as buffers and wildlife corridors. The Hobneys should be assessed as part of the wider network, not only as field centres.
Donisthorpe meets the mapped 20-hectare-within-2-kilometres benchmark, but Council mapping places it outside the 100-hectare/5-kilometre and 500-hectare/10-kilometre catchments.
The site’s position on the western and south-western village edge could provide valuable doorstep nature. Exact 300-metre access should be tested using legitimate entrances and usable routes.
Evidence matters:Â agricultural land does not automatically qualify as natural greenspace, and habitat or species value cannot be established from aerial imagery alone. The proposal is to retain, survey and enhance the land so that its public and ecological value grows over time.
Let’s ask for a wilder Hobneys
A BETTER CHOICE IS POSSIBLE
Support a proper feasibility study for community stewardship, habitat restoration and accessible natural greenspace before the land is committed to development.