Creating biodiverse wetland habitats with community access benefits
The Chester Wetland Centre has received highly commended recognition of its work in the Chartered Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (CIEEM) awards for best practice stakeholder engagement.
The community-led project aimed to create biodiverse wetland habitats with community access benefits. It will improve the water quality and channel morphology of a heavily modified contaminated watercourse.
Binnies Landscape Technical Director, Mark Boothroyd, said: “It was fantastic to celebrate the progress this project has made with some of our partners and key stakeholders. The idea for the Chester Wetland Centre originated from the Friends of the Countess of Chester Country Park. It is a genuinely community-driven concept and very reliant on the support and commitment of these stakeholders, so it was great to see that support recognised by CIEEM. We look forward to seeing this momentum continue with the realisation of that original idea.”
This project began with an idea by the voluntary group the Friends of the Countess of Chester Country Park and was helped by Bangor University’s senior wetland scientist.
Mark said: “Achieving considerable momentum and support has been a result of the collaborative multi-agency approach. Binnies has been supporting the development of this project since the idea was born in 2019. Our feasibility study and outline design established a shared vision for the Chester Wetland Centre that achieved the original aim of creating a low-nutrient wet meadow within the country park while maximising opportunities from adjacent land owned by project partners. Each partner has done much more than respond to technical questions, together forming a ‘collective client’ to drive and shape the project.”
Proposed upstream interventions will deliver Water Framework Directive benefits including improved water quality, channel morphology, ecological condition and floodplain connectivity. Downstream, the cleaner water will reach the Countess of Chester Country Park, where it will feed a wet meadow. Additional benefits include access improvements, such as lifting and diverting footpaths clear of frequent flooding, installing interpretation boards and creating visitor facilities to support environmental education.
Mark added: “The recognition from the CIEEM awards provides valuable visibility and validation for the Chester Wetland Centre project and showcases the dedication and expertise of the individuals and organisations involved in its development and implementation. Congratulations to everyone involved in the Chester Wetland Centre project on this well-deserved commendation!”