final feasibility report - loughton residents …€¦ · loughton residents association loughton...

Loughton Residents Association Loughton Brook Enhancement: Feasibility Report 11.2002

FEASIBILITY REPO

RT

Loughton Brook Enhancement,

Roding Road,

Loughton.

Feasibility Report

November 2002


CO

NTEN

TSLOUGHTON BROOK ENHANCEMENT

1 PROJECT OVERVIEW

2 THE EXISTING SITUATION

3 LANDSCAPE PROPOSALS

i) Enhancing the Public Experience

ii) Enhancing the Ecological Value

4 BUDGET COSTINGS

5 LANDSCAPE PROPOSALS PLAN


PRO

JECT O

VERVIEW

1 PROJECT OVERVIEW

This feasibility report has been prepared for the Loughton Residents Association on behalf of Moore Piet + Brookes as part of the funding grant application to enhance the neglected waterside area known as Loughton Brook.

The report outlines the proposed landscape works and budget costings which will enhance the environmental quality and public access of this linear strip of open space adjacent Loughton Brook. It also highlights long term opportunities which will bring about further environmental and amenity enhancement to the local community.

By mid 2002 extensive public consultation was carried out within the community, local schools, organizations and Paul Cook, warden of nearby Roding Valley Nature Reserve.

Extensive workshops were carried out with Roding Valley High School which is situated adjacent to a section of Loughton Brook. Two facilitators had access to some of the students and encouraged them to draw and photograph sections and to indicate what improvements and changes they would like. Quite a lot of material was produced and the students were keen to present their own ideas. As a result of these meetings and workshops the following community improvements to the brook were established:

Low maintenance design;Easy access for litter clearance;Provision of seating and litter bins where possible;Fencing and planting should be used to prevent people from falling into the brook;The piece of land between Alderton Hill and the railway to be accessible from the

school side only. Fencing will prevent access from Roding Road. The timber decking will provide viewing platforms within the school which will enhance educational opportunities;

The footpath between Roding Road and the station will be opened up with a timber platform and perimeter fence;

Planting and regeneration initiatives should encourage diversity of wildlife and vegetation communities.

The feasibility report considers both the community’s aspirations for Loughton Brook and the Environment Agency’s position with regard to flood defence, conservation and land development control when developing the landscape proposals.


EXISTING

SITUATIO

N

2 THE EXISTING SITUATION

Loughton Brook is a tributary that flows off the Epping Forest ridge into the RiverRoding which forms part of the Roding Beam and Ingrebourne Catchment, a sub-catchment of the Thames Catchment area.

Over time urban development has altered Loughton Brook’s natural characteristics and cross-sectional profile through its re-alignment, culvertingand flood management initiatives. The ecological contribution of this urban watercourse is greatly reduced due to the hard edge nature of the sides and base, its straightened channels with no meanders, pools, riffles and steep banks with no vegetation shelves.

There are three types of edge treatments along this stretch of Loughton Brook: the high brick wall built in the 1980s as part of the flood alleviation scheme; the ‘rip-rap’ blocks/ stone revetment wall designed to support vegetation and collect silt and the low timber toe boarding where the only natural gravel bed remains (all other sections have a concrete base.)

This linear waterside open space runs for approximately 200 metres alongRoding Road with a varying width between 4-12 metres. Loughton Brook along this length is largely hidden behind a fence and thick vegetation implying an ‘out of mind out of site’ mentality which severs it off from the daily life of Loughtonand public appeal. In particular areas where the understorey is dense there is a lot of litter, refuse and broken fences. Past urbanisation combined with the low level of maintenance and neglect of this open space have all contributed to its environmental and visual degradation.

Roding Road runs parallel to Loughton Brook and provides the only link betweenLoughton Station, Roding Valley High School and Loughton Town Centre and High Street for the people in the east of the town. A long distance walking route, The Three Forests Way, also runs alongside the brook. At present there are limited views of this waterway or appreciation of its wider hydrological catchmentarea. There are opportunities to enhance the public experience, environmental awareness and ecological value of this open space which will be further investigated in Section 3: Landscape Proposals.

1. High brick wall edge treatment.

2. Rip-rap blocks edge treatment.

3. Timber toe boarding edge treatment.


LAND

SCAPE PR

OPO

SALS 3 LANDSCAPE PROPOSALS:

Enhancing the Public Experience.Watercourses can become a focal attraction which is highly valued within the urban environment providing a place of interest, relaxation and education for both adults and children. It is important to highlight that any new or altered structures or planting sited within an 8 metre buffer zone on both sides of the watercourse require negotiations and Land Drainage Consent (LDC) from the Environment Agency (EA). Early guidance and discussions with the EA are encouraged to ensure the project develops in a feasible and environmentally sustainable direction.

Outlined below are the immediate landscape proposals which will enhance the public experience of LoughtonBrook:

Improving site lines and relationship between this Loughton Brook and the footpath along Roding Road:

• Removing litter, refuse and other rubbish;

• Selective clearing and thinning of the dense understorey;

• Selective thinning of tree canopies in shaded bankside areas.

All of these works are classified as maintenance and do not require LDC from the EA, however it is advised that specialist landscape contractors on the EA approved tender list carry out the works ensuring minimal disturbance and no debris or bank destabilisation occurs.

Enhancing pedestrian experience, public access and facilities:

• Install safety railings where necessary, ensuring health & safety requirements are addressed. Create a more open aspect to allow for easy access for litter clearance and maintenance. The fencing along the school section will require 1.2 metre high hoop-top security fencing which can be re-used and painted from removed sections along Roding Road;

• Informal pathways that allows pedestrians to interact and appreciate the watercourse;

• Provide amenity areas with seating and bins in sensitive locations;

• Design and install educational signage which raises environmental awareness through highlighting the brook’s wider context, ecological complexity and species, community and individuals responsibilities.

All of these proposals require LDC from the EA and a public health and safety risk assessment.

Improvements requiring further negotiations include:

• Discussions with London Underground with regard to improving the visual appearance of the station service area on Roding Road (installing matching security fencing) and selective clearing and re-planting on the railway crossing slopes;

• Discussions with London Underground with regard to the harsh appearance of the entrance into LoughtonStation. Opportunities to soften or improve this steel fence and enhance public access (seating and viewing areas) should be investigated. Any redesign requires LDC and a public health and safety risk assessment if any proposals bring the public closer to the watercourse.

Existing view along Roding Road. Proposed

vegetation clearing and low security fence installation.

Opportunities to negotiate visual improvements

to land owned by London Underground.


LAND

SCAPE PR

OPO

SALS 3 LANDSCAPE PROPOSALS:

Enhancing the Ecological Value.Urban stretches of rivers provide the opportunity to create an important wildlife corridor both below and above water and in the surrounding margins. Initial short term ecological enhancement proposals which will create visual intrigue and begin the process of habitat diversification include:

Improving bankside vegetation diversity:

• Low maintenance copse woodland planting in selected areas, plant stock should be of local provenance;

• Planting of locally indigenous shrubs and hanging plants on the high brick revetment wall which visually soften the hard edge nature of this structure.

These works do not require LDC, but locations and plant species should be approved by the EA conservation department. These works should not effect the existing flow dynamics or current water carrying capacity.

The long term challenge for Loughton Brook is to restore the watercourse to a more natural form which enhances biodiversity and re-links the community with the watercourse by encouraging people to approach the water, if not physically then visually. Primarily these works require local support and ownership to ensure long term ecological benefits. Early involvement and consultation with the EA’s Flood Defence, Land Development Control and Conservation departments is also required to establish its feasibility and future progress. Any works to the watercourse require LDC, public health and safety risk assessment and flood risk assimilation which has to satisfy the EA’scriteria that the modification will not have an adverse impact ie. increase the risk of flooding or maintenance requirements. Although the cost of these works would be very high it should be considered negligible in terms of environmental benefits.

Long term restoration of Loughton Brook:

• Removal of the bankside hard edges along the school’s sports fields length and in otherpossible locations where there are opportunities to widen the channel, restore the meanders, recreate the natural gravel riverbed, riffles and aquatic and marginal vegetation shelves. These proposals would require negotiations with the school as they would need to agree to the release of land along this brook edge which is currently used for playing fields.

• Creation of a semi-wetland area with a small open body of water in the left over land parcel adjacent to Roding Gardens. The lowering of the existing brick headwall (or removal) and pulling back the bank line to widen the channel which will restore meanders and provide a wildlife refuge and breeding habitat should be investigated. The use of this resource as an educational and recreation tool for local schools and the community could be enhanced through decked viewing platforms and interactive signage which would encourage people to learn and become more involved with riverside ecosystems;

Open parcel of land (above) which offers opportunities to create a semi-wetland for educational and recreational activities.

Opportunities to create a more naturalistic waterside experience.


BUD

GET C

OSTIN

GS

4 BUDGET COSTINGS:

Landscape Proposals.


LAND

SCAPE PR

OPO

SALS PLAN

5 LANDSCAPE PROPOSALS PLAN:

final feasibility report - loughton residents …€¦ · loughton residents association loughton...

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