WHOLE FARM STEWARDSHIP

10 May 2002

WHOLE FARM STEWARDSHIP

Local consultation helped

boost this whole-farm

project in East Anglia

A RARE example of a whole-farm Countryside Steward-ship Scheme project, White House Farm, Earsham consists of 272ha (672 acres) on the Norfolk/Suffolk border, providing a protected environment for plants and wildlife as well as an amenity for villagers.

The application to convert the former arable farm was handled by Mark Little of FPDSavills on behalf of owner Vaughan Lewis after local consultation on the future use of the land revealed enthusiasm for the scheme.

Residents in the area carried out an in-depth survey of flora and fauna on the farm to support the proposals. Current work on the holding, part of which was owned by the author, Sir Henry Rider Haggard, at the turn of the last century, includes the restoration of pasture, planting of historic hedge boundaries and the creation of access routes to fit in with public rights of way.

Historic boundaries are being planted with hedges.