3 minute read
Burton Washlands
Artist's impression of the core Washlands Vision area. © Environment Agency
An Environment Agency case study.
Robert Scott
This £28 million project started life as an engineered flood wall and embankment-raising project, to protect 5,500 homes and businesses in the Burton floodplain, Staffordshire, from the ravages of the River Trent.
It won the 2018 Landscape Institute Award for Local Landscape Planning; however, the opportunity to enhance the undeveloped floodplain – the Washlands – for people and wildlife followed. This would help to offset the disruption and environmental impacts of the engineering work and, through the provision of flood defences, provide a wider range of facilities and environmental improvements for the local community. It thus generated a broader community base of local support and stakeholder funding for the project.
Environment Agency involvement:
The Environment Agency developed the business case and an engineering-led project team to improve the ageing flood defences.
As the project evolved, the Environment Agency worked with other partners including the client senior user, and professionals in cultural heritage, flood risk, fisheries and biodiversity, to understand the scale of the environmental opportunity. The trigger for starting a landscape-led approach was the development of a brief for a Landscape Vision to cover 630 hectares of floodplain, written in collaboration with East Staffordshire Borough Council (ESBC) and Binnies (formally Black & Veatch), who were awarded the design contract.
The brief for the Landscape Vision included:
– Aligning with East Staffordshire BC and Staffordshire Wildlife Trust’s Transforming the Trent Valley Landscape Partnership Scheme (TTTV)
– Improving access, legibility and biodiversity at the urban interface with the Washlands identifying alternative land uses and management regimes, allowing space for water
– Leveraging funding via a Natural Capital Register, specifically targeting deprived areas
– Promoting interaction with the project to public and partners online and via workshops.
These activities led to funding and support from ESBC, Staffordshire Wildlife Trust (heritage lottery bid), Trent Rivers Trust, and The National Forest Company. The Environment Agency set up and chaired the steering group, and funding agencies including the Local Enterprise Partnership have contributed towards the multimillion-pound landscape enhancements.
Lessons learned:
Landscape architects and environmental professionals in client organisations such as the Environment Agency can provide the stimulus for exciting collaborative projects, by thinking laterally, challenging established engineer-centric project teams and breaking down barriers to communication.
A landscape-led approach on this project has generated a breadth of ideas ranging from small-scale enhancements deliverable by volunteer groups, to ambitious proposals and an overarching vision that exceeds partners’ expectations. It provides a visual shopping list of measures that sponsors can invest in, which are delivered through a prioritised programme.
Story maps were used as an engaging and accessible way of presenting GIS and technical information to a wide audience and aided cross-disciplinary working.
Robert Scott is Principal Landscape Architect at the Environment Agency.
