Details

Created: 11 January 2024

A New Year masterplan to invest more than £500,000 creating what will be Ilkeston’s latest nature reserve is poised to get the green light at an Erewash council meeting this month.

The aim is to turn the defunct Pewit municipal golf course into a wildlife haven right on the edge of town – WITHOUT using Council Tax.

Half the cost will come from government levelling-up investment through what is called the Shared Prosperity Fund. The rest is money the authority is getting from businesses involved in the redevelopment of the old Stanton ironworks on the other side of town.

The council launched a public consultation on the future of the Pewit site after reluctantly closing the golf course at West End Drive in 2022.

The course was barely being used. Figures revealed a bill of £51,000 to keep it open while income from golfers was just £7,894.

Almost nine in ten residents who responded to the council’s survey backed transforming the land into a nature reserve. Just four per cent of the 200-plus who gave their views were against the idea, with some calling for new homes on the land.

While the vast majority of the site will remain public open space, a parcel between the end of West End Drive and Manor Fields Drive behind existing homes would be earmarked for disposal as part of a development strategy that will also be considered by the Council Executive at its meeting on Tuesday 16 January.


The sale of this seven acres would help the authority meet housing targets and spare green belt land from being built on, according to a report which stresses that residents will be invited to give their views.

Two small buildings on the land have been targeted by vandals and are a magnet for antisocial behaviour.

Erewash has been working with Derbyshire Wildlife Trust ahead of coming up with its proposals for a nature reserve that will boast a mix of woodland planting, fruit trees, grasslands and “open mosaic habitat creation”.

There is expected to be a pond with footpaths and trails. These will link to the wider Nutbrook Trail plus the beauty spots of Straws Bridge, Manor Floods and Pewit Carr.

The authority says in a briefing document: “This enables the consolidation of a much wider area to achieve a greater biodiversity and recreational benefit.”

Natural England has welcomed the blueprint, which could see the former pavilion building become a coffee shop and educational centre.

The meeting of the Council Executive at Ilkeston Town Hall is also set to decide on a name for the new nature reserve.

The most popular option among residents was to retain the name Pewit. This was backed by just over a quarter of respondents (27%). As a tribute to the King – who has long been a green champion – the area is set to be called Pewit Coronation Meadows Local Nature Reserve.

It is expected to open later this year or early in 2025.

Councillor Joel Bryan, who is Erewash’s Lead Member for Environment, said:

“We were sad the golf course had to close but it had simply become unviable, and the council could not keep pouring money into it. The consultation clearly shows local people are keen to back our green agenda which will keep the area as a tranquil open space that can be enjoyed by everyone.”