18 CHARTERED FORESTER / WATER MANAGEMENT © Robin Truslove Robin © FRINGE BENEFITS OF URBAN WOODLAND oodland as a land use serves Robin Truslove MICFor from Lockhart Garratt shows a multitude of objectives, with well-known benefits in rural how carefully designed lowland woodland creation can forestry including timber accommodate surface water drainage as its principal aim production, wind shelter, game cover, landscape setting and lowland woodland creation has surface water balancing lagoons (pictured). habitat provision. But how many of us accommodated and enabled surface water Its location in the National Forest placed WChartered Foresters have explored the drainage as a principal objective, Robin priority on woodland as a mitigating land purposes woodland can fulfil on the Truslove MICFor draws on two contracts in use and the field was the only space peri-urban fringe in conjunction with the Midlands that Lockhart Garratt (LG) available for that on site. When the project industrial and residential development? managed. engineers identified this as a potential Residents and workers require green space conflict of land use, we were able to draw on for recreation and connectivity, buildings Penny Wakefield Wood, experience from previous sustainable urban often require a natural visual screen, habitat Ellistown, Leicestershire drainage systems projects (SUDS) to (once removed) needs to be replaced and, In the planning stages for a new 1.3 million integrate the woodland directly into the importantly, the development must not sq. ft. (12ha) logistics warehouse near balancing lagoon landform. impact on the water quality or flood risk. Coalville, an adjacent six hectare arable field The first question was, would the tree To demonstrate how carefully designed was earmarked for construction of the species cope with the variation in water level? Building on the hydrological engineers’ plan, reed beds were targeted to the permanently wet areas at the base of the voids. Willow and alder were then used on the mid-levels of the anticipated five to ten year flood event, i.e. temporary inundation in winter months, and longer-term broadleaf woodland was placed on the higher and drier ground in the 20-50 year flood zone. The engineers welcomed the added benefits of the tree canopy intercepting rainfall and the binding effect of the roots on the constructed slopes. The second consideration was soil depth. The landform to create the balancing voids was built up from the existing field level with external banks and three ponds at increasing depth along the direction of flow. Given the previous land use, good-quality soils (clay loam/silty clay loam) were available in high volume. Drawing on experience in land restoration, we specified 1.5m depth of soil material to be placed uncompacted for deep rooting and good establishment/growth. Soil placement had to proceed in spring 2016, despite some wet weather, but compaction was not excessive. Through close liaison with the earthworks contractor, retrospective deep ripping was instructed using an excavator mounted tine to 1.2m. This then allowed the top 500mm to dry sufficiently for secondary ripping to take place, using tines pulled by a D-6 medium bulldozer. A further use of the six hectare mitigation area was for permissive public access. Given the proximity to the village, a system of surfaced paths was included for AUTUMN 2017 19

Broadleaf planting in deer fence and spirals at Tresham New Garden Village all ability use and as a bridleway connection. (82,000 trees) were proposed in the early high enough to accommodate tree planting. An 800m length of three metre wide paths design stages. Through the estate’s, and our Species were also selected to focus wet was constructed from recycled aggregate own, close involvement with Forestry woodland (willow, alder, birch) to the lower (type 6f2) at the vertical interface between Commission ’s grant schemes for lying ground and longer term productive the willow and oak woodlands, providing woodland creation, we were aware that if broadleaves to the better drained soils. To a well bound surface that was cost effective this planting were to become a condition of date, 20ha of planting has been undertaken to build. planning, the option of FC England funding to the west of the site, the main run-off Woodland creation provides the ideal would be lost. In conjunction with the area. platform for community engagement and Estate, we facilitated an early and Fundamentally, the woodland planting is three planting events have been held with open consultation with senior FC England providing a large scale informal SUDS local partners, including the parish council, officers who confirmed that, provided the which will work in conjunction with more neighbouring residents, the Scouts and the planting was completed pre-planning, formal swales (low or shallow hollows) that National Forest, the latter of whom helped funding could be allowed. will need to be incorporated to the make the wood their own. It completed the The site location within the River proposed village footprint. In addition, it scheme of 12,000 trees by planting a Nene Nature Improvement Area (one has been brought forward in advance of any community orchard of eight fruit varieties, of 12 set up to create ‘joined up resilient development, with the many associated including a picnic area at a high point ecological networks at a landscape benefits of shelter, bio-diversity and, of overlooking the ponds. scale’), made the planting an FC England course, soil and flood protection. grant priority. Deenethorpe Airfield, The airfield sits on a local high point at Going forward Tresham New Garden Village, 100m elevation and the land drains down Professional foresters and arboriculturists to the Willow Brook catchment to the will attest that trees serve a multitude of The south- has seen north-west and to Glapthorn Brook to the benefits to a multitude of people. Long-term significant residential and economic growth east at 70-80m elevation. In refining the climate change projections anticipate more in the last ten years. Urban regeneration layout the layout of the scheme on the extreme winter rainfall and more frequent in has included a new civic centre, upper valley sides, we considered the UKFS summer flooding events, putting homes, a re-activated railway station to London guidelines on forestry and water, and the businesses and infrastructure at risk. These and new logistics warehouses, with an Countryside Stewardship principles for factors make it our duty to fully explore the associated increase in employment. Under water quality. opportunities which woodland presents for the North Northants Core Strategy, the The key design factor was to locate water management and, not least, to convey former WWII airfield, near the village of the planting on the drainage slopes below the economic advantage of woodland within Deenethorpe on the Deene Estate, was the proposed future village footprint to SUDS to developers and planners in the identified as a ‘garden village’ opportunity increase infiltration, reduce overland flow design and construction process. in October 2015. and slow run off into the watercourses, The plan for the construction of 1,500 especially during storm events. Planting Robin Truslove MICFor CEnv, Senior Forestry houses within a garden village would was orientated parallel to the land contour and Environmental Consultant at Lockhart require a strong, green infrastructure to to help intercept low level pollutants from Garratt Ltd., and Chair of ICF’s Midlands connect habitat, landscape and countryside surface water run-off. The ground water Regional Group. [email protected] access and four hectares of woodland level was investigated to ensure it was www.lgluk.com