The Environment Agency reported on 12 August 2026 that its £4.5 million Greatham Marsh Restoration Scheme in Hartlepool had brought the tide back to land won from the sea more than 200 years ago. Working with The Greatham Foundation and Northumbrian Water, the agency restored the original course of Greatham Beck, which had been filled in about 50 years earlier, and removed a tidal barrier and old flood bank sections.

The agency said the work was expected to restore 21.3 hectares of coastal saltmarsh, mudflat and high tide roosts for species including curlews and avocets, and to improve water quality and resilience to climate change and sea level rise. It forms part of the wider £30 million Tees Tidelands Programme. Northumbrian Water contributed £2.086 million to investigate the scheme's nutrient reduction benefits. Planned follow-up work included sowing 9 hectares of neutral grassland and planting 1.7 kilometres of native hedgerow and treeline.