Warwickshire Avon Catchment Partnership

Transcription

1 Warwickshire Avon Catchment Partnership Working in Partnership Gina Rowe Living Landscapes Manager Tim Precious Wetland Project Officer Warwickshire Wildlife Trust Creating a Living Landscape

2 Warwickshire Avon catchment area Coventry Redditch River Leam

3 Activities Events to inform and engage a range of organisations and people: 2 events September 2014 in Coventry and Evesham 69 stakeholders attended 2. Identified key priorities and scored key projects for funding 3. Webpage and information leaflet written 4. Partnership meetings held 6 monthly, partnership further developed 5. Catchment Plan drafted, to finalise April Projects being delivered on ground

4 River Avon near Hampton Lucy

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6 Warwickshire Avon priorities Identifying and reducing urban and rural pollution Engaging communities to take ownership of their local water environment Delivering enhancement projects in the 3 Priority Areas: Coventry Brooks, the river Leam, the Badsey Brook Returning water corridors to a near natural state Governance and Partnership

7 Warwickshire Avon Catchment Plan Warwickshire Avon Catchment Plan Key approaches: to resolve issues in upper reaches to reduce the cumulative negative effects on lower reaches. deliver at least 2 practical projects per year, and use these as demonstration sites

8 Wide Catchment Partnership Hosts: Partners: Severn Rivers Trust Warwickshire Wildlife Trust Amenity Forum Independent landowners

9 Key Workstreams: Love Your River Coventry funding 2012 from Environment Agency Catchment Partnership Action Fund 2015/16 Guphill Brook,Coventry and Badsey Brook, Redditch Coventry Brooks Plan: Warwickshire Wildlife Trust River Leam: Severn Rivers Trust/CFE leading Badsey Brook and tributaries: Worcestershire Wildlife Trust

10 Brooks Plan Walkover surveys undertaken along all accessible stretches of brooks in Coventry (Nov 2012 Feb 2013) Annotated maps and Proposed solutions per brook Photographs of all structures and issues Priority map of the brooks, with areas of most concern

11 Walkover survey example Creating a Living Landscape

12 Proposed projects example Creating a Living Landscape

13 Prioritising the projects

14 How do we resolve these issues? Developing and costing up proposed projects from the Coventry Brooks Plan Resolving misconnection issues Reducing impact of diffuse pollution through: Implementation of SuDS, reedbeds Creating buffer strips Restoring natural riverine features

15 Completed Project 2014: Longford Nature Park Restoration Longford Nature Park (North Coventry) was identified as a strategic area for a reed-bed restoration Pollution issue identified running off M6/A444 roads into The River Sowe (River Avon tributary) Project completed in March 2014 restoring area of 2300m² to Phragmites australis reedbed

16 Longford Nature Park Restoration

17 2015/16 project Guphill Brook, Coventry Proposals agreed with Coventry City Council and Environment Agency

18 Guphill Brook, Coventry - issues Freshwater Fish Directive, Nitrates Directive, Overall Risk Category : At Risk Diffuse Pollution Risk : Heavily Modified, Physical and Morphological Risk : Ecological Status : Biological Status : At Risk At Risk Poor Poor

19 Guphill Brook, Coventry Project developed to address several issues causing WFD failure of Guphill Brook: urban and agricultural diffuse pollution, poor biological and ecological quality, poor hydro geo-morphological quality location selected in close proximity to damaging surface run off from major dual carriageway, Solihull - Coventry Preventing polluting surface run off is very difficult due to space constraints and land ownership issues.

20 Objectives 1. To enhance the Guphill Brook and associated floodplain through restoring the natural geomorphological features 2. To create online backwaters and associated wetland features 3. Form a series of new wetlands to filter water flowing into and through the Guphill Brook, improving water quality. 4. Widen buffer strips, create wildflower habitat 5. Increase shading of part of watercourse to reduce water temperatures 6. Provide habitat to facilitate a water vole recolonisation or potential re-introduction. Creating a Living Landscape

21 Guphill Brook design

22 Outputs Re- profiled banks of brook to restore a more natural flow Increased area of fish spawning gravels and in stream vegetation 2 back water areas totalling 100m ² Enhance 280m² buffer strip grassland

23 Actions and community links Creating a mosaic wetland habitat in an amenity space that is barely used. Enhancements will encourage local people to spend more time outdoors Create a wildlife oasis in a highly developed area. The wetland habitat will provide a quality resource for local schools: 8 within 1km Opportunities for volunteer groups to be actively care for their area and build life-long connections with nature

24 Monitoring outputs 5 Fixed point photographs taken: Apr, Jul/Aug, Oct/Nov 2015, during works Mar 2016; after works Jul/Aug Kick samples May/Jun 2015 and May/Jun 2016 at backwater creation sites. Water vole survey Apr-Aug 2015: no signs found; repeat annually. Botanical species survey Jul 2015: 84 species; repeat Jun/Jul 2016

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26 Sequence of work: west pool

27 Sequence of work: west pool part dug

28 Sequence of work: west pool filling Sill dug by hand to achieve shallow level. Allows water into pool, connected to brook, fish refuge in flood

29 Guphill Brook

30 Video of bank re shaping The brook had been over deepened previously Banks were re shaped to more natural slopes and to allow sun to reach sections of banks and brook Short video of work in progress

31 Community engagement Presentation to local residents association Letters to all local residents; queries answered Posters on site 10 days before start of work Sherbourne Partnership and local volunteers to assist with wildflower seeding, planting and community engagement, support from Coventry City Council.

32 Budget Total funding from CPAF: 24,500 In kind value of: 1,250 Coventry City Council staff time input 5 days 5,900 volunteer hour input 600 Staff time input additional discussions with Middlemarch Environmental 2 days 1,500 Management time input 5 days Match funding: 4,550 'Feasibility Study and Initial Design Report' by wetland specialist consultants, funded by Warwickshire Wildlife Trust Total project value: 38,300

33 Next steps: Woody debris Cover for fish Proposal from Wild Trout Trust To enhance fish habitat

34 Wildflower and grass mix on buffer strips Example of small trees hinged into the margins Wild Trout Trust Community Activity days: seeding and planting Plug planting Native tree planting

35 Future projects Funding grant applications Continue to develop designs and costings for projects, to be ready for funding Medium Term Projects EA Examples include: - Lakeview Park, River Sherbourne riverine restoration - Charterhouse, Riverine enhancement

36 Lakeview Park, River Sherbourne

37 Charterhouse, River Sherbourne Partnership project with; Charterhouse Restoration Trust, Friends of Sherbourne, Environment Agency Local partnership formed HLF project development underway 5 million funding bid to restore Grade I listed monastery and land, to include re-meandering and wetland creation

38 Thank you for listening Any questions? Gina Rowe Tim Precious Creating a Living Landscape

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