Access, recreation and heritage
We are proud to be the owners and custodians of 57,260 hectares of land in the northwest of England. These landholdings cover a variety of designated sites:
- National Parks – we own 25,820 hectares of land in 3 NPs, mainly the Lake District and the Peak District but also a small amount in the Yorkshire Dales
- Area of Outstanding National Beauty - we own 11,350 hectares of land in 4 AONB’s, mainly the Forest of Bowland but also Arnside & Silverdale, North Pennines and the Solway Coast
- Special Area of Conservation – we own 11,035 ha in 16 different SACs
- Site of Special Scientific Interest – we own land in 53 SSSIs totalling 17,480 ha
- Special Protection Areas – we own 14585 ha in 6 different SPA’s
- Ramsars – we own 2 ha in 3 different Ramsar sites
- Scheduled Ancient Monuments – there are 44 SAM’s on our land.CroW – 35,580ha of our land is designated as open access or registered common land
As a responsible water provider and landowner we’re committed to balancing the protection of drinking water with environmental protection, public access and recreation.
To do this we have an environment and community team that’s dedicated to the management of our larger estates across the North West. Our four regional catchment teams and policy team are all committed to protecting raw water at its source, while preserving and improving conservation, access and recreation on our estates. We have a duty to promote access and recreation and we aim to deliver that duty in a way which protects and where possible enhances the biodiversity of that natural environment.
Each year, we invest in the assets on our landholdings. In 2008/09, our capital spend was £1.34 million. The graphs show a breakdown of this spend along with projected spend in 2009/10.
The information in this section, along with that in the biodiversity section, fulfils United Utilities responsibility to "make available public information on the exercise of their conservation, access and recreation duties" in the Code of Practice on Conservation, Access and Recreation: Guidance for the Environment Agency and Water and Sewerage Undertakers.