Avenue Coking Works
The Avenue Coking Works, a flagship site within the National Coalfields Programme, was one of the most contaminated in England. The client needed to regenerate the site for community and economic benefit, creating a positive perception within the community and making the site commercially viable. The project was an opportunity to showcase best practice approaches to reclamation and to stimulate new markets (including export opportunities) for environmental services. The regeneration of the main site is programmed for completion in 2013.
The client required a masterplan that would enhance biodiversity, visual quality, flood storage and social networking, creating a sustainable and locally managed landscape. TEP needed to demonstrate how business and social enterprise could create green and low-maintenance assets.
TEP has been engaged in the regeneration process since 1999, carrying out environmental surveys, liaising with regulators and monitoring pollution levels. TEP also implemented a 75ha newt and snake translocation and tree-felling scheme to prepare the main site for remediation. The scale of this contaminated, derelict site, and the widespread occurrence of protected species, posed significant problems in terms of remediation design and programming. However, accurate surveys, focused advice and innovative mitigation techniques have minimised ecological risks.
The advance habitat creation of the Washlands Reserve, a 16ha area at the south of the site comprising new washlands and meadows, has avoided a 12 to 24 month delay in dealing with protected species. A public consultation, together with the evident quality of the product, built confidence among the local community, regulatory and planning authorities.
| Location | Chesterfield, Derbyshire |
| Type of scheme | Reclaimed parkland |
| Size | 98ha |
| Lead landscape architect | TEP - The Environment Partnership |
| Outline brief | Transformation of heavily polluted industrial land into a place that can be used and enjoyed by both people and wildlife. |
| Client | East Midlands Development Agency |
| Completion date | 2013 |
| Project team | Landscape & ecological consultants: TEP |
| Awards | Winner 2008 LI Awards Landscape Sciences; first place 2006 British Trust for Ornithology Business Challenge |
Technical summary |
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| Planting | The absence of topsoil conflicted with the desire to create a deep and sustainable soil profile. A soil strategy will ensure creation and placement of good soils, underpinned by a contractual framework that ensures the employment of professional soil scientists during remediation. |
| Contractors | Nature reserve & ecological contractors: FACE, Lowther Forestry Group, Cheetham Hill Construction Ltd, NT Killingley Ltd |
| Category | Rural |
| Keywords | environmental management - industry - reclamation |
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