Wild Rutland: Public engagement exhibition to be held in Oakham

Wild Rutland is inviting residents to a public engagement exhibition at Victoria Hall in Oakham, on Wednesday 13 March from 2pm to 7pm, to learn more about its proposed wildlife and British nature reserve.

This is the plan I blogged about at Christmas, quoting the Leicester Mercury:

Bears, wolves and even lynxes could be on the doorstep of Rutland Water if plans are approved. The move, if successful, would see wildlife return to the area for the first time in nearly 1,000 years.

The plan, which is to be formally proposed in the New Year, would see a new nature reserve created in Rutland’s Oakham, with 1,000 acres of land stretching from Burley Wood to the Oakham bypass transformed. 

The end result would be called Wild Rutland and could see the likes of Eurasian brown bears and lynxes, which were once native to the UK, make the reserve their home.

The Wild Rutland website says a pre-planning application for a 1000-acre nature reserve on the Burley Estate was sent to Rutland County Council in December and a full proposal will be submitted later this year.