A wealthy Chester resident has plans to create a natural sanctuary in his backyard to address growing threats of wildlife decline and climate change.
Lex Greensill, 43, is currently locked down in Saughall with his doctor wife Vicky and their two boys aged six and nine.
Described as an Australian success story, this one-time farmer turned billionaire financier flies around the world on private jets so his green vision at Shotwick Park could be intended to offset his carbon footprint.
Proposals have now been submitted to Cheshire West and Chester to buy council-owned farmland adjacent to Saughall with the primary land use to become focused on conservation.
Mr Greensill, whose plans were welcomed by the community when he gave a presentation in the Vernon Institute, wrote: “I had the privilege of growing up in a rural location. My brothers and I enjoyed the freedom to explore and learn about the natural world around us, something that we took for granted in our youth.
“As time has progressed, our natural world has come to face many threats including climate change, wildlife decline and the loss of natural habitats through development. Many eco-systems have been damaged and the quality of our soil, our air and our water have deteriorated.
“Living in Saughall, we look out onto a very real opportunity to address some of these challenges. The Shotwick Park project is my dream to make a small impact on these very important issues. At the same time, the project will provide opportunities for our children to learn about the countryside and experience the natural world around them as it should be.
“I strongly believe that our proposal will address a multitude of opportunities and objectives at a personal, local, county and global level. I, therefore request your support for this unique and wonderful environmental venture.”
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A slide show presentation includes a map labelled with water course restoration and woodland creation, an 'edible' eco-system following a public right of way, community orchard, grassland restoration, a path designed for all abilities and several viewpoints.
The wording under the sub-heading ‘our vision’, reads: “To create a natural sanctuary for Shotwick Park to address the growing threats of wildlife decline and climate change. The project will offer a wide range of community benefits including access, education and a place of research – a local scheme for a global issue.”
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Lex Greensill and his brothers, Andrew and Peter, were placed 75th on the 2019 Australian Financial Review Rich List with a combined worth of $1.2 billion. Just two years earlier Lex, the founder and chief executive of Greensill Capital, had been made a CBE for services to the economy in the Queen’s Birthday Honours list. In the early days Lex had seen first-hand the impact of late payments on small businesses when his father’s sugar cane farm experienced the pressure of being a small company supplying large multinationals. From those beginnings, he began to develop ideas on how suppliers could access more efficient financing, regardless of their size. The following years saw him successfully lead supply chain financing businesses for Morgan Stanley and Citi before he and a team of seasoned specialists founded Greensill in 2011. Headquartered in London, the company also has offices in New York, Chicago, Miami, Frankfurt, Bremen, and Sydney, with more than 800 specialists worldwide. Mr Greensill has been an adviser to former British prime minister David Cameron and US president Barack Obama. During lockdown, it’s been reported Lex and his wife Dr Vicky Greensill put wheat through their two electric mills to support the neighbourhood through the flour shortage. In normal times, they also run the dairy stall at the Saturday farmers’ market opposite their house, on behalf of some local producers. |
