The Environment Agency is seeking supply chain interest in an upcoming tender for the Ouse Washes Habitat Creation Project (OWHCP) worth an estimated £5.928 million (inc VAT).

The Sutton scheme needs to create wet grassland from arable fields to benefit both wintering and breeding birds, the target species for the OWHCP being breeding ruff, blacktailed godwit, snipe, and wintering widgeon.

On behalf of the Environment Agency (EA), Defra Group Commercial intends to publish a tender opportunity for the provision of the project, tentatively scheduled early 2026.

Current estimated start and end contract dates are 26 January 2026 to 25 January 2027 with a possible further extension option to 24 January 2028.

The market engagement is being undertaken because the requirements have two unusual features as follows:

• Requirement for a single supplier to undertake all aspects of habitat design, undertake works on the ground, and subsequently manage the site and habitat. Done so because in practice for habitat creation schemes there are not clear boundaries between these stages and is an iterative process.
• Contractual arrangements require to be in place for 25 years because habitat establishment is a gradual process over a number of years and involves suppliers developing an understanding over time as to how the site functions under different circumstances. A shorter duration would lose the efficiency of having built such experience and knowledge.

Via the market engagement Defra Group Commercial and the EA hope to:

• understand the size and maturity of the pool of potential suppliers
• understand their technical capabilities and experience
• gauge their appetite for entering into such long-term arrangements

Scope of Engagement

The intention is to create approximately 200ha of new wet grassland habitat suitable to accommodate breeding snipe, black-tailed godwit, and ruff, and also for wintering wigeon. The site is located at Sutton within the Cambridgeshire Fens, adjacent to the Ouse Washes. The landholding is being assembled and the final site boundary is still to be set. The land is largely peat-based currently in cultivation.

The supplier is required to produce the scheme design together with materials needed to secure consents, undertake the habitat creation works, and then manage the site and habitat for 25 years. The design and construction work will be administered through an NEC Engineering and Construction Contract, and the site management will be subject to a bespoke management agreement.

The supplier will design the scheme from scratch taking account the nature of the site and constraints. A specification for the habitat has been produced, but it is accepted that given the site and constraints the specification may not be met at all times across the whole site.

The main design constraint is that in order to manage cost no large-scale water storage such as a raised reservoir or excavated lake will be included.

In addition, to manage the risk to archaeology, as far as possible excavation must be confined to the top 0.5m of the ground. A range of possible water sources have been identified but it would be for the supplier to secure sources and design how water is stored and managed across the site.

Ground information is available, largely from hand auger survey, to inform the design.

Dependent on the design it is anticipated the following consents will be required:

• planning permission (for some elements)
• abstraction licence
• IDB bylaw consent
• Flood Risk Activity Permit
• Scheduled Monument consent

The supplier will be required to provide the studies and reports needed to support consent applications by the client, such as environmental impact assessment, flood risk assessment, Habitats Regulations assessment and biodiversity net gain assessment.

A range of ecological and archaeological studies and surveys have already been completed and may need to be updated in order to inform the design, consents, construction, and possible protected species licence application.

Following acceptance of the design by the client and the granting of consents the supplier will undertake the habitat creation works.

It is appreciated that habitat creation especially for wetland sites can be an iterative and possibly extended process. While land acquisition is still in progress, in order to make a start on the ground the scheme delivery may be divided into two or more phases that are progressed once all the land within a phase has been secured. Each phase would need to be ecologically appropriate and hydrologically self-contained in order that water levels can be raised.

It would be for the supplier to propose the phases as part of the overall integrated scheme design. The timing of phases will depend on the land acquisition process and could potentially be years apart. The contractual arrangements will be designed to accommodate a phased approach.

When habitat creation works are completed for the whole site, or the first phase, the 25-year habitat management stage will commence. The supplier will be wholly responsible for and address all aspects of site management. The first step will be the production of the site management plan for acceptance by the client.

Interested suppliers are invited to make written submissions via email to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it expressing interest in the outline of the project, together with some demonstration of technical competence and robustness as a business. Deadline to submit expressions of interest is 12pm on 28th October 2025

Feedback from the engagement will used be either to confirm the intended procurement approach or to reconsider aspects of it - for example, the reliance on a single supplier or the duration of the management agreement.

Defra Group Commercial/EA will also consider holding a virtual supplier engagement event to provide an overview of requirements and invite supplier feedback, followed by a Q&A session to provide participants with the opportunity to raise questions. Suppliers submitting expression of interests are asked to state whether this would be something they would be interested in.