Along with Network Rail and Oxfordshire County Council, we’ve joined forces with the North East Cotswold Farmer Cluster (NECFC) to invest in landscape-scale, natural flood management through the Evenlode Landscape Recovery project.
The partnership is helping to protect the local energy infrastructure, rail lines, bridges and roads in the Cotswolds from increasing flood risk; reducing disruption to the public by avoiding power cuts, cancelled trains and closed roads.
Over £3 million of funding from the partnership is being channelled directly to those delivering the landscape change - through the farmer-led Evenlode Landscape Recovery (ELR) - and demonstrates how private and public bodies can invest in nature to reduce long-term climate risks.
Infrastructure organisations traditionally rely on hard engineering solutions such as embankments, drainage works and pumping systems to protect assets from flooding. Now, in response to increasingly extreme weather events, we’re working with ELR and its partners to invest in the landscape itself; supporting farmers to restore habitats that naturally slow, store and absorb water across the River Evenlode catchment.
The River Evenlode flooding into nearby fields to help protect nearby homes, services and utilities (Photo credit: Rebalance Earth)
By partnering with ELR we’re joining the UK’s largest farmer-led nature recovery scheme, where farmers get paid for changing the way they manage parts of their land as part of a £100 million funding package secured with Natural England and the Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA).
This includes the creation of new woodland, meadows and wetlands on less productive land that regularly experiences flooding or drought.
For farmers the project offers a reliable income stream; one which successfully balances maintaining food production with nature restoration. This new approach is expected to reduce long-term maintenance costs while minimising disruption to our energy customers, rail passengers and local communities.
SSEN's Chris Bratt (left) walking the project site with members of Evenlode Landscape Recovery (Photo credit: Rebalance Earth)
Chris Bratt, our Director of Asset Management, says:
“We have critical electricity infrastructure in the Evenlode catchment, including substations that must remain operational during extreme weather.
“By investing in nature-based solutions upstream, we can reduce long-term flood risk to these assets. This proactive approach strengthens network resilience, reduces the risk of power cuts and, over time, helps avoid costs that would otherwise eventually end up being passed on to customers.”
Tim Field, Executive Director of Evenlode Landscape Recovery, adds:
“This partnership marks a new chapter in how we think about flood prevention and asset protection. By working with SSEN, Network Rail and Oxfordshire County Council we’re supporting infrastructure resilience with practical changes on the ground.
“Farmers are uniquely placed to manage water at source. By restoring habitats and improving soil structure across the catchment, we can reduce flood risk downstream while strengthening farm businesses for the long term.”
The project is one of the first landscape recovery schemes in the UK to move into full delivery and is backed by more than £100 million in public funding. It has been developed and led by the farmers themselves through the North East Cotswold Farmer Cluster (NECFC).
In total, more than 3,000 hectares of habitat in Oxfordshire, Gloucestershire and Warwickshire will be restored by a group of over 50 farmers over 20 years.