Project overview
The Burton Washlands Landscape Vision focuses on a 630-ha floodplain in Burton upon Trent and sets a new shared vision that reconnects the town and its community with the River Trent, thereby enhancing the natural capital value of significant green and blue infrastructure assets. The project evolved out of Binnies’ work in delivering the Burton upon Trent flood risk management scheme and won the 2018 Landscape Institute Award for Local Landscape Planning.
Our role
We led a collaborative process to reimagine the Washlands, worked closely with a range of local stakeholders and supported community consultation. The existing design and management plan failed to respond to the frequent flooding; areas designated as recreational space and amenity parkland were commonly under water. We identified opportunities to cater better for both people and nature through a more naturalistic approach to the design and management of greenspace, new and improved wetland habitats, improved access and connections between the town and the Washlands, and improved environmental interpretation and education facilities.
Through collaboration between our landscape team, environmental economists and ecologists, we valued the existing baseline and proposed enhancements in terms of natural capital at £2.7m PVb (40years), helping to secure £2.5 million in partnership funding for project delivery. An estimated 155 tC will be sequestered by the proposed habitat enhancements. We have subsequently developed detailed designs and gained planning consent for construction.
