9 minute read
Woodberry Wetlands
Coal House. © Allen Scott
Woodberry Downs is home to a project that brings together housing, leisure and access to nature in the heart of the capital.
Woodberry Wetlands is an historic but operational reservoir on the New River, managed by London Wildlife Trust (LWT), owned by Thames Water (TW) and located in the London Borough of Hackney (LBH). Formerly known as ‘East Reservoir’, it lies adjacent to the decommissioned ‘West Reservoir’, now used primarily for water-based recreation.
Together they are a spectacular and highly valued asset within a dense urban area, reflected in Woodberry Wetlands’ designation as Metropolitan Green Belt, Site of Metropolitan Importance for Nature Conservation, and containing two Grade II Listed structures.
Adding more relevance and vibrancy to the Wetlands is a major regeneration project that wraps around the north of the site. Led by Berkeley Group (BG), the ‘Woodberry Downs’ project focuses on creating a sustainable community, with large and improved public open spaces as well as new community facilities. Well underway, with over 5,500 new homes set in 64 acres, much of the focus of the development is centred on the reservoirs.
Allen Scott worked with the Partnership of LWT, BG and TW to realise their joint objectives of the vision in opening the reservoir to public access, engaging and educating people in the site’s natural, built and industrial heritage, enhancing links with the new community, and increasing the diversity of the wildfowl habitat and wider biodiversity values.
Transformation of the reservoir
The East and West Reservoirs were built between 1830 and 33 to purify water in the New River, and to act as a water reserve, serving as an operational unit until 1992. Once the TW ring main was completed, West Reservoir became surplus to operating requirements, and East Reservoir was separated to become the sole operating unit. In 1995 TW and LBH entered into an agreement for West Reservoir to pass to LBH for amenity usage and for East Reservoir to be managed for nature conservation interest by LWT, who began with a converted shipping container as a staff and education base.
Just 12 years ago at Woodberry Wetlands, then still known as just ‘East Reservoir’, TW operated a strictly no public access policy and a high-security fence ringed the whole perimeter. Pre-booked LWT groups were allowed but had to be escorted, and habitat projects were largely limited to small corners. Through the energy and commitment of LWT, the partnership was born to re-imagine the role of the reservoir. With due credit to those organisations, the mutual benefit of ‘doing something’ was enthusiastically embraced.
The potential to create a new nature reserve in the heart of London and to lever that gain to raise greater awareness and funding of their work across London was one of their driving forces. Similarly, TW, at a corporate level, was widening its focus from a commercial water provider to the active implementation of social, cultural and environmental policies. This project had the potential to give them gains in all three areas, subject to their operational constraints.
When BG commenced its major regeneration project, it forged alliances with community and social housing organisations and quickly learned how much the reservoirs meant to the community. The masterplan was reorientated, so the reservoirs became the centrepiece of the new Woodberry Down and the edges around the reservoir were animated with reed bed drainage, a playground, seats, outdoor gym and an amphitheatre. Later on, BG provided additional funding through the LWT partnership to realise key green infrastructure links and public access points into Woodberry Wetlands.
Once these mutual benefits and a shared vision was realised, Allen Scott was commissioned to undertake a feasibility study that explored a number of strategic approaches. These ranged from a closed ‘nature-only’ reserve to an out-and-out leisure led option, but the clear winner was to open the reservoir to everyone and establish a new six-acre reed bed.
The focus on nature involved creating a sizeable reed bed habitat and to manage this for maximum wildlife gain.
Amenity for both people and nature
This preferred strategic option was refined to meet as many wildlife, social, marketing and educational objectives as possible to secure full partnership support. Following a successful bid to the National Lottery Heritage Fund in 2013 for gap funding, design work began in earnest over 2014 and after construction Woodberry Wetlands opened to the public in 2015, for the first time since 1830.
The focus on people encouraged access via a new entrance sequence, the existing entrances being only for TW maintenance vehicles. The journey into the Wetlands starts within the Woodberry Downs landscape, through a distinctive Corten shelter made by metalsmiths, ZedWorks Design, across a new bridge over the New River and then a boardwalk across the corner of the reed beds.
This leads to the ‘Coal House’, one of the previously derelict listed buildings, which was completely restored to become a popular café with profits reinvested into the Wetlands. Adjacent to the café, new facilities were built for a volunteer base. The involvement of the community in maintaining the Wetlands has been a primary tool to boost social pride and interaction between people and the environment.
A new circular path allows visitors to circumnavigate the reservoir, with further stops at LWT’s education centre and at an outdoor classroom by ‘Ivy House Sluice’, the other restored listed structure. The entrances and paths have been designed such that sections can be closed at certain times, for instance when there are sensitive species during breeding season, and there are management rules regarding jogging and dogs to balance tensions between wildlife and people.
The focus on nature involved creating a sizeable reed bed habitat and to manage this for maximum wildlife gain. The reed beds are key to enhancing the reservoir, not only as a London-wide site for nature but also as a ‘feeder site’ to the International and European designated Lee Valley Special Protection Area (SPA) and Ramsar site, which includes the Walthamstow Reservoirs Site of Special Scientific Interest (SSSI). These sites received their designations in part due to the numbers of internationally important wintering birds, specifically bittern, gadwall and shoveler, which would have the opportunity to rest, and even nest, at Woodberry Wetlands.
But in addition to the reed beds, other habitats including hedgerows, grassland, wildflower meadow and an orchard have also been created by the project, which are managed and maintained by volunteers. As a result, Woodberry Wetlands supports lots of species throughout the year, from wintering populations of wildfowl to reed warbler and bunting migrating from Africa. Kingfisher is now common, along with many other bird species.
The complete range of birds, bats, amphibians and invertebrates at Woodberry Wetlands can be found on LWT’s website.
Challenges of retaining a working reservoir
Woodberry Wetlands (East Reservoir) is classed as a statutory reservoir under the Reservoirs Act 1975, as it retains greater than 25,000m of water above ground level. It is fed with water from the New River and stores the water for onward pumping to the Copper Mills Treatment Plant in Walthamstow. The Act is aimed at preventing an uncontrolled release of water, and requires regular inspections by qualified engineers as well as maintenance and repairs. TW facilitates this requirement in tandem with public access, only rarely requiring a section to be closed off in the event of larger machinery needing access. A separate and secure vehicular access is provided for this purpose, shared with deliveries and emergency vehicles.
Benefits to the local community
Being free and open to the public for the first time since they were built makes Woodberry Wetlands very special. The space attracts visitors from all over London and beyond but primarily it is a focal centre of community involvement, catering to the large residential surroundings. LWT runs practical conservation volunteering sessions throughout the week for people to get their hands dirty with practical maintenance tasks, such as managing the reed bed, the hedgerows and meadows. A team of conservation and warden volunteers also assist with weekend visitors and at special events.
The Wetlands are very popular with school groups, and schoolchildren can go ‘minibeast hunting’, pond dipping, and take part in wildlife habitat walks. The outdoor learning projects are developed in close dialogue with schools to ensure activities are linked to the national curriculum.
Education volunteers learn how to deliver successful environmental learning programmes and have the opportunity to shadow experienced LWT staff to help run formal and informal wildlife sessions for people of all ages.
Legacy
Woodberry Wetlands has been a hugely successful project. As a closed and private reservoir, there were various past plans to decommission it and sell it for high-rise housing development and even to use it as an urban solar farm. But through private, public and third sector partnerships, a better vision has been realised for everyone. This urban water is now protected and enhanced, and the community engaged with nature in new ways. It creates a foreground to new homes, a centre of social activity and a haven for wildlife, all while maintaining operations as an engineered reservoir feeding a water treatment plant for distribution across East London.
Marc Tomes is a landscape architect and director at Allen Scott Landscape Architecture.
