Case study:Restoration of Wandle Park

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Location: 51° 22' 28.09" N, 0° 6' 43.42" W

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Project overview

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Status	Complete
Project web site
Themes	Flood risk management, Habitat and biodiversity, Social benefits, Water quality
Country	England
Main contact forename	Tom
Main contact surname	Sweeney
Main contact user ID
Contact organisation	Croydon Council
Contact organisation web site	http://www.croydon.gov.uk/
Partner organisations	Royal HaskoningDHV
Parent multi-site project
This is a parent project encompassing the following projects	No

Site Location Plan

Project summary

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The River Wandle is located in the southeast of England. It is approximately 14km long with two sources, one at Waddon Ponds (Croydon) and the other at Carshalton Ponds (Sutton). It flowsnorth-eastthrough Croydon, Sutton, Lambeth, Merton and Wandsworth to then join the Tidal Thames. The River Wandle runs under the Wandle Park, in the London Borough of Croydon, for approximately 350mand is only evident by the presence of two man-hole access chambers located within the park’s playing fields. The parkis located at OSgrid reference TQ31681,65563 and covers anarea of 8.5 hectares. Wandle Park is owned and managed by Croydon Council. It is surrounded byamultitude of land-use types including residential, industrial and commercial. The London Borough of Croydon in partnership with the Environment Agency is developing a scheme to restore the River Wandle at Wandle Park, Croydon. The London Borough of Croydon believes that the park is presently an underused asset and wishes to restore the park to reflect is original Victorian lay out. The main objectives of the project are as follows: Restore the river corridor through Wandle Park improving the habitat for local wildlife; Provide flood risk benefit for properties downstream to approximately 1 in 50 return period; Providethe local community with an opportunity to enjoy a high-quality environment and encourage people to care for, use, appreciate and enjoy the environment; Improve the water quality in the channel in support of the Water Framework Directive, helping to meet Good Ecological Potential (GEP) in the catchmentand; Provideflood storagethat will contribute to the London Rivers Action Plan.

Update (July 2015) The London Borough of Croydon worked in partnership with Royal HaskoningDHV and LDA Design to oversee the design and implementation of an ambitious scheme to regenerate Wandle Park, improving an important green space into an asset for the local community and contributing towards the delivery of WFD objectives. At the heart of this ambitious £2 million scheme was the restoration of over 250m of the River Wandle, previously culverted below ground, into an open, naturally functioning meandering channel. This project was Highly Commended at the 2015 Landscape Institute Awards.

Monitoring surveys and results

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Lessons learnt

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This project had a range of key challenges that were overcome through the design process, including: • The restoration of natural hydromorphological processes whilst minimising the potential for large scale channel migration. This was resolved through the design of a multi-stage channel which allows the low flow channel to adjust within a more permanent high flow bank line. Seeded gravels were also allowed to rework naturally to create a wide range of in-channel habitat niches. The two stage channel safely accommodates both the low dry weather flows and the high flood flows. • Ensuring that the river could be re-meandered through contaminated land at the site without increasing remobilisation of in situ contaminated sediments and leachate. An uncontaminated capping layer using uncontaminated soils was used to protect the environment and park users from contaminated materials. • Minimising the need for expensive off-site disposal of contaminated materials and the need to import uncontaminated soils for capping. Soils on the site were categorized as contaminated and less contaminated (i.e. with contaminant concentrations below hazardous levels), and the former were used as a base layer for landscape features within the park. These were capped with less contaminated soils from the site to prevent exposure to the wider environment.

Image gallery

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During works

Post restoration, April 2014 © Royal HaskoningDHV

Post restoration, June 2013 © Royal HaskoningDHV

Post restoration panoramic, June 2013 © Royal HaskoningDHV

New river crossing, June 2013 June 2013 © Royal HaskoningDHV

Catchment and subcatchment Select a catchment/subcatchment Edit the catchment and subcatchment details (affects all case studies in this subcatchment) Catchment River basin district Thames River basin London Subcatchment River name Wandle (Croydon to Wandsworth) and the R. Gravney Area category 100 - 1000 km² Area (km2) Maximum altitude category 200 - 500 m Maximum altitude (m) 282282 m <br />0.282 km <br />28,200 cm <br /> Dominant geology Calcareous Ecoregion Great Britain Dominant land cover Suburban Waterbody ID GB106039023460 Other case studies in this subcatchment: Beddington Park, Beddington Park Enhancements, Boulder Pool and Plough Lane, Durand Close, EDF Weir removal, Eel Pass over tilting weir at Ravensbury Park, Garratt Park, Hackbridge Restoration, Hackbridge weir notch, King Georges Park... further results Site Edit site Name Wandle Park WFD water body codes GB106039023460 WFD (national) typology WFD water body name Wandle (Croydon to Wandsworth) and the R. Gravney Pre-project morphology Reference morphology Desired post project morphology Heavily modified water body No National/international site designation Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation"Site of Local Importance for Nature Conservation" is not in the list (All - multiple designations across the site, International - Biosphere Reserves, International - Geoparks, International - RAMSAR site, International - World Heritage Site, EU - Biogenetic Reserves Network, EU - European Diploma Site, EU - Special Area of Conservation, EU - Special Protected Area, EU - WFD protected area (drinking water, shellfish etc.), ...) of allowed values for the "Site designation" property. Local/regional site designations Protected species present No Invasive species present No Species of interest Dominant hydrology Dominant substrate River corridor land use Average bankfull channel width category Average bankfull channel width (m) Average bankfull channel depth category Average bankfull channel depth (m) Mean discharge category Mean annual discharge (m3/s) Average channel gradient category Average channel gradient Average unit stream power (W/m2) Project background Edit project background Reach length directly affected (m) Project started 2009/01/01 Works started Works completed Project completed 2013/12/31 Total cost category Total cost (k€) Benefit to cost ratio Funding sources Cost for project phases Phase cost category cost exact (k€) Lead organisation Contact forename Contact surname Investigation and design Stakeholder engagement and communication Works and works supervision Post-project management and maintenance Monitoring Reasons for river restoration Edit reasons for restoration Mitigation of a pressure Hydromorphology Biology Physico-chemical Other reasons for the project Measures Edit Measures Structural measures Bank/bed modifications Floodplain / River corridor Planform / Channel pattern Other Non-structural measures Management interventions Social measures (incl. engagement) Other Monitoring Hydromorphological quality elements Edit Hydromorphological quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Biological quality elements Edit biological quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Physico-chemical quality elements Edit Physico-chemical quality elements Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Any other monitoring, e.g. social, economic Edit Other responses Element When monitored Type of monitoring Control site used Result Before measures After measures Qualitative Quantitative Monitoring documents Upload monitoring documents Additional documents and videos Upload additional documents Additional links and references Edit links and references Link Description http://www.therrc.co.uk/sites/default/files/files/Conference/2015/Outputs/presentations/6.1.3 ian dennis.pdf Restoring Wandle Park - RRC Conference 2015 Presentation Supplementary Information Edit Supplementary Information