North Wessex Downs bid for £1m in enhancements

An area described as "one of the most treasured in southern England" may be given enhancements worth £1m. Wiltshire Council has said it will support North Wessex Downs National Landscape's (NWDNL) major bid for the funding from the National Grid's Landscape Enhancement Initiative (LEI). The downs cover 668 sq miles (1,730 sq km) of Berkshire, Hampshire, Oxfordshire and Wiltshire, and is the third largest National Landscape in England. The funding could be used to pay for more accessible gates, nature-friendly farming initiatives, new hedgerow and woodland planting, and improvements to footpaths and bridleways. Through the LEI, the National Grid funds projects that reduce the visual impact of electricity pylons. It offers up to £300,000 per project, and the NWDNL plans to submit six bids across two funding rounds in 2026, Wiltshire Council said. The proposal, agreed at the Wiltshire Council cabinet meeting on 17 March, will allow NWDNL to apply for multiple grants. Paul Sample JP, cabinet member for environment, climate and waste, said the funding would be a "significant step" in the council's goals of boosting wildlife recovery and expanding tree canopy cover. Jemima Sellwood, who