Case study:Mayesbrook Climate Change Park restoration project

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Location: 51° 32' 59.97" N, 0° 6' 25.93" E

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Project overview

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Status	Complete
Project web site
Themes	Economic aspects, Flood risk management, Habitat and biodiversity, Hydromorphology, Monitoring, Social benefits, Water quality
Country	England
Main contact forename	Nick
Main contact surname	Elbourne
Main contact user ID	User:NickRRC
Contact organisation	River Restoration Centre
Contact organisation web site	http://www.therrc.co.uk
Partner organisations	Thames Rivers Trust, London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, Environment Agency, Queen Mary University of London, Natural England, Design for London, Greater London Authority, London Wildlife Trust, RSA (Insurance), SITA Trust, Mayesbrook Park Friends group
Parent multi-site project
This is a parent project encompassing the following projects	No

Mayesbrook Park river restoration, middle reach restored. July 2012. Photo courtesy of LBBD.

Project summary

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Introduction
The river restoration project is part of the UK’s first ‘Climate Change Park’ at Mayesbrook in Barking, east London. The project aimed to transform a rundown 45 hectare park into a showcase of how public greenspace can help a community to cope with the risks from climate change; such as increased flooding and higher summer temperatures. The Mayesbrook Climate Change Park was delivered by an innovative partnership of public, private and voluntary organisations. By combining staff, funding and technical resources the partners were able to deliver a project that no one partner could have done alone. Funding received a major boost in 2009 when RSA donated £300,000 to the project through Thames Rivers Trust as a research contribution into natural flood management and reducing flood risk through a low carbon approach. The RSA donation also helped lever in a further £400,000 of funding from the Mayor of London’s ‘Help a London Park’ campaign.

At the launch of the works in March 2011, Richard Benyon the Minister for the Natural Environment at DEFRA said: “The Mayesbrook Climate Change Park is a shining example of the public and private sectors working in partnership. This project will be a great boost for the local communities and the environment. By bringing the Mayes Brook back into the park, planting trees and creating a wetland, this park will provide not only a great space for local people, but also the perfect habitat for wildlife. I look forward to coming back and seeing the progress of this fantastic project in the years to come.” In his speech the Minister also said that the project was showing “how to achieve more for less, which is important in today’s economic climate” and that the project was “good value for money by anybody’s standards”.

What did the project involve?
The first phase of the works has resulted in a significantly improved park in a borough which is one of the twenty most deprived in the UK. The Mayes Brook which formerly lay in a concrete channel has been brought out into the park along its 1.6 km length. This has improved its wildlife and recreational value. A new one-hectare floodplain has been excavated along the restored brook to naturally and safely store the increased floodwater expected in the area in future. In addition, separate Thames Water work to remedy misconnected drains has dramatically improved the quality of the water in the brook. New trees now cover the equivalent of three football pitches, to give shade, help cool the area and provide a home for more wildlife. New footpaths, entrance ways and signage allow the public to better use the park.

Next steps
Phase 2 of the project will be led by Barking and Dagenham Council and will run from 2012 to 2014 and onwards. It is planned to include a café surrounded by a climate change garden of drought resistant plants. A display in cafe will explain how all of the improvements to the park help adaptation to climate change. The display will also help people change their own lives to better cope with climate change impacts. Two polluted lakes in the park will be cleaned up, to better cool the area and to increase wildlife. One lake will have boating restored, with angling reintroduced on the other.

Howard Davidson, Director of the Environment Agency South East, said: “Mayesbrook is already providing valuable lessons about how to plan for climate change, how to do it in partnership and how to spread the cost to make it affordable.”

Monitoring surveys and results

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Lessons learnt

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Catchment and subcatchment

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Site

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Name	Mayesbrook Park
WFD water body codes	GB106037028170
WFD (national) typology	Low, Small, Calcareous
WFD water body name	Seven Kings Water
Pre-project morphology	Straightened, Over deepened, Artificial channel
Reference morphology	Run-glide, Low gradient passively meandering
Desired post project morphology
Heavily modified water body	Yes
National/international site designation
Local/regional site designations
Protected species present	No
Invasive species present	No
Species of interest
Dominant hydrology	Flashy
Dominant substrate	Bedrock, Gravel, Silt
River corridor land use	Parklands garden
Average bankfull channel width category	2 - 5 m
Average bankfull channel width (m)
Average bankfull channel depth category	0.5 - 2 m
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

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Reach length directly affected (m)	16001,600 m <br />1.6 km <br />160,000 cm <br />
Project started	2008/01/01
Works started	2011/03/01
Works completed	2012/10/31
Project completed	2011/10/31
Total cost category	1000 - 5000 k€
Total cost (k€)	38003,800 k€ <br />3,800,000 € <br />
Benefit to cost ratio
Funding sources	London Borough of Barking and Dagenham, Environment Agency, Thames Rivers Trust, RSA (insurance), Natural England, Greater London Authority, SITA Trust, London Wildlife Trust, DEFRA

Cost for project phases

Phase	cost category	cost exact (k€)	Lead organisation	Contact forename	Contact surname
Investigation and design
Stakeholder engagement and communication	1 - 10 k€		London Borough of Barking and Dagenham	Ruth	Taylor
Works and works supervision	1000 - 5000 k€		London Borough of Barking and Dagenham	Alex	Farris
Post-project management and maintenance	10 - 50 k€		London Borough of Barking and Dagenham	Matt	Wilson
Monitoring	10 - 50 k€		River Restoration Centre	Nick	Elbourne

Reasons for river restoration

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Mitigation of a pressure	Flood risk management, Biodiversity and Habitats
Hydromorphology	Channel pattern/planform, Reconnecting floodplain, Quantity & dynamics of flow, Substrate conditions
Biology	Fish, Invertebrates, Macrophytes and/or phytobenthos: Average abundance, Birds, Bats
Physico-chemical	Water quality
Other reasons for the project	Social benefits, Climate change adaptation, Community demand, Landscape enhancement, Recreation

Measures

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Structural measures
Bank/bed modifications	Recovering connectivity longitudinal and transversal, Recovery of channel morphology, Adding sinuosity, Bank re-grading, Creation of pools and riffles
Floodplain / River corridor	Floodplain reconnection, Recovery riparian vegetation, Reconnect and restore historic aquatic habitats, Sustainable urban drainage ponds (SUDs), Excavating floodplain scrapes
Planform / Channel pattern	Improvement of channel morphology, Creation of backwater, Reconstruction of a meandering stretch, Reedbed creation to filter outfall water quality
Other
Non-structural measures
Management interventions	Fencing, Monitoring strategy
Social measures (incl. engagement)	Awareness campaigns, Improved public access
Other	Public consultation

Monitoring

Hydromorphological quality elements

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quality elements

Element	When monitored		Type of monitoring		Control site used	Result
	Before measures	After measures	Qualitative	Quantitative
Channel pattern/planform	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Improvement
Width & depth variation	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	Improvement
Quantity & dynamics of flow	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Improvement

Biological quality elements

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quality elements

Element	When monitored		Type of monitoring		Control site used	Result
	Before measures	After measures	Qualitative	Quantitative
Fish	Yes	No	No	Yes	Yes
Invertebrates	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Awaiting results
Macrophytes	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	Yes	Awaiting results

Physico-chemical quality elements

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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

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Element	When monitored		Type of monitoring		Control site used	Result
	Before measures	After measures	Qualitative	Quantitative
Bat Survey	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Improvement
Birds, butterflies and dragonflies	Yes	Yes	No	Yes	No	Improvement
Habitat mapping	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Improvement
Public use	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Improvement
River Corridor Survey	Yes	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	Awaiting results
Landscape enhancement	Yes	Yes	Yes	No	No	Improvement

Monitoring documents

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Image gallery

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Jubilee planting event, March 2012

Safer Parks Silver Award 2012

Visualising the project at a public consultation event, 2009

Public consultation event, 2009

Additional documents and videos

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Additional links and references

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Link	Description
http://www.theriverstrust.org/projects/water/Mayes%20brook%20restoration.pdf	The Mayes Brook restoration in Mayesbrook Park, East London: an ecosystem services assessment
http://cdn.environment-agency.gov.uk/scho0610bsow-e-e.pdf	Environment Agency press release - "The additional benefits of river restoration"

Supplementary Information

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