Environment & Community

Land

United Utilities is a major landowner in the north west of England, with 58,000ha of catchment land.

This area is the largest such landholding in the water industry, a third of which serves our 192 reservoirs.

The area is characterised by uplands with open range sheep grazing on the moors and fells. Our land includes the renowned estates of Haweswater and Thirlmere in the Lake District, the Bowland Fells in Lancashire and the Longdendale and Goyt Valleys in the Peak District. Nearly half of the land is in three National Parks, and nearly one third is designated as SSSIs. In total, we own land in 54 different SSSIs including nine Special Protection Areas and 19 Special Areas for Conservation.

Our approach has been to move towards more sustainable methods of farming which promote biodiversity whilst improving water quality, and we have worked closely with our tenant farmers to achieve this. For example, measures implemented at our award winning High Hullockhowe Farm restored the quality of watercourses through addressing diffuse pollution, gave a boost to bird numbers, enabling successful breeding and overwintering for target bird species, and supported wider regeneration of vegetation that had formerly been adversely affected by land use.

Much of our land has enjoyed a tradition of public access, and our aim is to provide freedom of public access to open land, at the same time as meeting our own operational, land management and conservation requirements. Freedom of access on our land is available through the use of public rights of way, concessionary routes, access areas and any other special access arrangements, for appropriate quiet recreational pursuits. We monitor and maintain rights of way on our land to ensure that they are kept fit for purpose, and we honour access permitted to our land under the Countryside and Rights of Way Act 2000 and other statutory obligations.

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