Describing himself as a lifelong ecologist, birder and naturalist, Lee will be helping to shape the future of the 325-hectare site purchased last year with a £2m donation from The Reece Foundation. The whole area is set to be a game changer for lowland Northumberland and the Druridge Bay area.

With 22 years clocked up working in conservation - from countryside ranger and project officer posts with various local authorities, a four-year stint as a consultant ornithologist/ecologist, a member of the North Pennines Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty (AONB) Partnership’s team and most recently, Northumberland Wildlife Trust’s Chevington Burn project officer, Lee’s experience is invaluable.

Even better for the project and the wider community, Lee was born and raised in Hadston.  He attended  Red Row Primary School and Druridge Bay Middle School where an English teacher encouraged his interest in birds. It was also whilst in Druridge Bay Middle School and at Coquet High School that his geography teachers encouraged his interest in ecology and environmental issues which years later he is now able to bring to the area he was brought up in. He holds a BSc in Geography from Newcastle University.

Based at the Hauxley Wildlife Discovery Centre, Lee will manage a team of volunteers and be actively involved in the development of the West Chevington site which will include the restoration and enlargement of the woodland to increase carbon capture, creation of meadows and grasslands to support pollinators, re-introduction of species such as harvest mice that have shown signs of thriving at nearby East Chevington and creation of ponds and enhancing existing wetlands to improve diversity.

Speaking about his appointment, Lee says: “Growing up in the Druridge Bay area where there were always coveys of partridges, skylarks and hares in the fields it was hard not to connect with nature in some way.

“I have seen the area change from deep mining and opencast mining to the landscape it is today and can still remember Chevington Drift and the rows of terraces before the opencast. I look forward to being able to help shape the transition from the industrial landscapes of the past to a wilder landscape for the future.”