Wildlife friends bring new life to Hull바카라 사이트™s urban dynamic drains
Two new mascots are helping bring to life the history and wildlife of a city centre urban watercourse.
L-R - Andrew Gibson, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust; Dan Jagucki, Environment Agency and Karen Tozer, Groundwork Yorkshire with one of the newly installed signs.
A new history and wildlife trail across Hull바카라 사이트™s Beverley and Barmston Drain sees wildlife 바카라 사이트˜guides바카라 사이트™ Wendy the Water Vole and Percy the Perch help reconnect people to their natural environment.
The pilot project 바카라 사이트“ along nine bridges across the drain 바카라 사이트“ gives historical information and helps the community spot wildlife native to the location.
It also includes advice on how to go 바카라 사이트˜pond dipping바카라 사이트™ in the new Clough Road 바카라 사이트˜pocket park바카라 사이트™ 바카라 사이트“ to  encourage children and families to connect with the Drain and what lives beneath its surface.Â
The trail brings to life the work of 바카라 사이트˜Hull바카라 사이트™s Dynamic Drains바카라 사이트™, a partnership project with Groundwork Yorkshire, Yorkshire Wildlife Trust and Hull City Council that aims to improve the urban watercourse, boost wildlife habitats and encourage people to connect with and spend more time in their natural environment, as well as reducing littering and fly-tipping into Hull바카라 사이트™s watercourses.
The Environment Agency바카라 사이트™s Dan Jagucki said:
This pilot, part of Hull바카라 사이트™s Dynamic Drains, has cleaned up the Beverley and Barmston Drain and the surrounding areas, created new green spaces for people to enjoy and encouraged people to connect with nature right in the centre of an urban environment.
This is very much a community project and we hope the interactive trail 바카라 사이트“ led by Wendy and Percy 바카라 사이트“ will capture people바카라 사이트™s imagination and encourage them to get involved in the future of Hull바카라 사이트™s Dynamic Drains as we roll it out to other areas of the city.
Beverley and Barmston Drain runs for 4km through the city, including residential areas, retail and industrials areas. When the project started in 2020 the drain needed significant Environment Agency maintenance due to litter and fly tipping which causes blockages and increases flood risk in the city. There are signs that this is getting better, though still remains a challenge.
The pond dipping sign as part of the project.
£500,000 project brings multiple benefits
As well as the new history and wildlife trail, so far the £500,000 project has:
- Used silt dredged from the channel to create areas on the bankside for easier access, as well as creating better habitats for fish.
- Created two new pocket parks 바카라 사이트“ one at Clough Road retail area with picnic benches, a pond dipping platform, a cycle shelter and new wildflower meadow; and another outside the primary school at Thorpepark Road that has a new seating area, path and native trees.
- Created designs for a third pocket park close to Endike Primary School, with a terraced bank that will improve access to the water바카라 사이트™s edge and a new pond dipping platform.
- Cleared land along the drain of historical fly tipping and planted it with native trees and shrubs, treated invasive Japanese knotweed and replaced it with native trees and installed two otter holts and several bird boxes to improve habitat and create areas for wildlife to thrive
- Delivered community litter picking events 바카라 사이트“ which included support from Kingston Kayaks to collect rubbish from the drain using canoes 바카라 사이트“ and launched magnet fishing events to encourage involvement from other members of the community.
- Launched a schools engagement programme, which also includes creating wetland wildlife areas in local schools  and diverting rainwater from the sewer into rain gardens and planters.
- Created 바카라 사이트“ by Groundwork during 2021-2023 - the Green Team, employed two supervisors and delivered training and work experience that helped people gain relevant qualifications and work experience to help them into employment. The Green Team delivered project works on the pocket parks, cleared fly tipping, planted trees, and planted the meadow at Clough Road.
New footpaths that have been created as part of the project.
바카라 사이트˜Delighted바카라 사이트™ to see project come to life
Yorkshire Wildlife Trust바카라 사이트™s David Craven said:
We are delighted to see this project come to life and signs go in along Barmston Drain. As a partner in the work, it is important to us that people get to know and have a better opportunity to connect with and care for the wildlife that surrounds them every day.
Wildlife can thrive and live alongside us even in functional features such as well managed urban and suburban drains.
Holderness Drain is the next drain the project will be rolled out to with plans already in place to restore a neglected and overgrown area that has suffered from anti-social behaviour and fly tipping. Plans also include new community green spaces, pocket parks, fishing areas and events to improve access to free fishing and community litter picks. Â
Over the next three years the project will also roll out to Setting Dyke, Foredyke and Old Fleet Drain.
Groundwork바카라 사이트™s Karen Tozer said:
As part of the Dynamic Drains partnership and as a resident of Hull it바카라 사이트™s exciting to see these signs going up along Barmston Drain. I hope they encourage people to discover more about the nature and heritage of the Drain.
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