North Doncaster residents are being invited to an event later this month to get an update on the Environment Agency’s plans to create a valuable freshwater wetland area next to the River Don at Fishlake.
Environment Agency staff will be at Fishlake Village Hall on Tuesday 14 July from 2pm until 7pm to show residents the detailed designs for the project. Staff last held an event in February to get residents’ views on the proposed scheme and started work onsite in May.
Staff now have more detailed information to show residents about the project and updates about how the project is progressing.
Anthony Myatt, project manager at the Environment Agency, said: “When we held an event earlier this year we got some good feedback on people’s views and good ideas about what they’d like to see included such as better footpaths, information boards and fishing areas.
“This has all been considered carefully in our detailed designs, which are now ready for everyone to see.”
Most people said they would like to see better site access, so staff are looking at how they can best incorporate new rights of way into the design. They are also looking at improving site access over the stiles.
The Fishlake habitat creation project will restore a 60-hectare area of valuable wetland habitat that will benefit residents and wildlife. The habitat and access routes lie between Jubilee Bridge in the west and Stainforth Bridge in the east.
New drainage ditches, ponds and channels will be created in land owned by the Environment Agency that lies between the flood banks and the Don, a low-lying floodplain ideal for wetland habitat. In places the river itself will be widened to create a reed-edge where fish and birds can breed.
The project will provide great benefit to a variety of important wildlife such as otters, water voles, lapwing, snipe and other wetland birds. The natural habitats will also help eels, and other fish like silver bream and dace that are suffering declines.
Once the ditches, ponds and channels have been constructed the Environment Agency’s team will remove sections of the small ‘cradge’ banks at the edge of the river, historically used to keep the area dry for agricultural use. This will allow the tidal water of the Don to flow onto the site around three times a month, without affecting the existing flood bank which is set back from the edge of the river.
Anyone wishing to be kept updated or to comment can contact fishlake.info@environment-agency.gov.uk or call 08708 506 506.
