A community bid to buy one of York’s most loved natural habitats has been rejected, but Friends of Severus Hill aren’t giving up.
Severus Hill is a 4 acre patch of land located in Holgate, next to the water tower. Over the last few years it’s been home to an array of wildlife and described as ‘a hidden environmental gem.’
It’s owned by Keyland, a sister company of Yorkshire Water, who were due to sell the area by Auction House in October 2023.
Friends of Severus Hill came together and called for a community bid to buy the patch, and Keyland gave the group until the end of June this year to submit an offer.
Through local donations, The Friends of Severus Hill raised almost £100,000 to put an offer down on the hill.
Keyland was originally said to be asking in the region of £170,000 for the land, but the group explained: “We submitted an offer for the land which reflected above the ‘market value’, but below the ‘cost price’ originally quoted to us in February 2024.”
Through an August update on the Friends crowdfunding page, they revealed that their bid had been declined.
It read: Regrettably, we have now heard back from our initial community bid. At this stage our offer was declined.”
The reason behind this, according to Keyland, is due to the sale of the site being temporarily paused, so that Yorkshire Water can conduct a feasibility study to see whether the site might have a role to play in providing future resilience to the water supply network in York.
YorkMix reached out to Yorkshire Water for a comment, a spokesperson told us: “Yorkshire Water is currently undertaking a feasibility study to see if this land can offer any resilience to the wider community and the supply of water to York as a whole.
“Any plans for this site will take into account the recent designation as a Local Wildlife Status and there are currently no plans for developing housing on Severus Hill.
“The feasibility study is expected to take 3-6 months to complete. Once concluded, Keyland will assess all options for future use of the land.”
Friends of Severus Hill have not yet given up hope, however. They’ve continued conversations with Keyland who would like to, following the surveys, give the community bid preferential treatment in a second formal approach for the site.
The group, with over 1200 supporters, have said they will remain optimistic that the passion between them will “ensure that this special hill remains wild for many generations.”