A new nature reserve near Basildon, Essex, has opened, after English Partnerships ‘gifted’ the site to the Land Restoration Trust.

The 4.5-hectare site at Vange Marsh, just outside Basildon, is now an extension of the existing RSPB site, thanks in part to English Partnerships.

Instead of selling the land on the open market, English Partnerships decided that it would be more valuable as a nature reserve and gifted the site to the Land Restoration Trust and provided an endowment of £500,000 to provide for its future management.

The trust will now work in partnership with the RSPB and Basildon Renaissance Partnership and Basildon District Council have backed the move.

Euan Hall, chief executive of the Land Restoration Trust, said: “Access to open space has been proven to improve health and social cohesion as well as improve the environment. The new nature reserve is the key that opens the access to a much wider open space network comprising Vange Marshes, West Canvey Marsh and Wat Tyler Country Park.”

According to Dave Hedges, the RSPB’s site manager for Vange Marshes, the site will be home to various species. “The nature reserve attracts a range of wildlife, including the rare water vole, great crested newt and declining bearded tit,” he said. “Management will ensure that wildlife thrives and new access improvements will help people make better use of their local environment.”