Agricultural Exit

In November 2025, routine agricultural management ceased.

This included:

• Grazing removal
• Termination of fertiliser inputs
• Cessation of soil disturbance
• End of routine field management cycles

This marked the beginning of passive recovery.

Drainage Relaxation

Historic agricultural drainage has shaped site hydrology for decades.

Where appropriate, drainage pressure is being reviewed and gradually relaxed to allow:

• Natural soil moisture regimes to re-establish
• Surface flow patterns to reconnect
• Seasonal wetness expression
• Groundwater interaction zones to stabilise

Changes are evidence-led and incremental.

Soil Recovery

Long-term pasture use influences:

• Compaction
• Nutrient loading
• Carbon distribution
• Root structure

Recovery focuses on:

• Reduced disturbance
• Natural aeration and biological activity
• Monitoring structural and chemical change over time

Soil condition is treated as foundational infrastructure.

Vegetation Transition

Vegetation change is expected to proceed through succession rather than installation.

This includes:

• Natural regeneration of wet grassland
• Transitional mosaic development
• Increased structural diversity
• Gradual species turnover

Planting is subordinate to process.

Intervention occurs only where evidence supports it.

Water and Landscape Interaction

Water movement interacts with:

• Soil structure
• Vegetation composition
• Surface micro-topography

Regeneration is designed to allow these relationships to express naturally rather than through engineered prescription.

Measured Intervention

Intervention principles:

• Minimal necessary disturbance
• Reversible where possible
• Evidence-led sequencing
• Monitoring before expansion

Land regeneration is treated as long-term infrastructure development, not a rapid outcome programme.