The Avenue restoration scoops two national awards
03 Dec 2008
The former Avenue Coking Works site at Wingerworth near Chesterfield, which is being remediated as part of a £100m plus scheme, has been recognised at two prestigious national awards ceremonies for its innovative regeneration work.
Landscape Institute Awards 2008
The first phase of the transformation of The Avenue, a flagship site within the National Coalfields Programme, won the Landscape Sciences category at the 2008 Landscape Institute Awards ceremony in central London as well as an Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (IEEM) Best Practice Award at its annual conference in Glasgow.
East Midlands Development Agency (emda) appointed environmental consultants TEP, via the main technical consultants Jacobs, to carry out the landscape design and ecological works required for the remediation of the site – one of the most contaminated in Europe. TEP has been involved in the regeneration process since 1999 and has worked on the assessment, detailed design, planning submissions, implementation of the works to date and monitoring of the overall remediation scheme for the derelict 98 hectare site. TEP produced the framework for a naturalised river valley parkland with areas for viewpoints, sport, housing and employment, which is due to be completed in 2013.
The scheme is being delivered and managed by emda in partnership with the Homes and Communities Agency (HCA) through its National Coalfields Programme.
TEP collected the Landscape Institute Award in recognition of its integration of biodiversity and planning of The Avenue site, which is in the process of successfully being transformed from a contaminated site into a haven for wildlife and plants.
Landscape Institute President Neil Williamson said: “The project demonstrates how several professions can collaborate to plan, design and create a biodiverse landscape from a degraded site. The scheme is founded on a thorough understanding of the site and is an excellent example of what can be achieved by landscape scientists.”
Collecting the award, Francis Hesketh, a partner at TEP, commented: “I am delighted to receive this award on behalf of TEP and emda. It is testament to the commitment of all the partners involved in The Avenue to ensuring the site is remediated in a sustainable way that will benefit future generations.”
The Avenue, submitted by TEP on behalf of emda, also won the IEEM Best Practice Award. Entrants were required to demonstrate best practice whilst contributing to the objectives of IEEM, and were welcomed from all sectors of the ecology profession including the public, voluntary and consultancy sectors.
Mike Fenton, emda’s Operations Team Manager, said: “It’s an amazing achievement - two awards in one week. These awards provide further recognition of the innovative approach to the work being carried out at The Avenue site. It highlights how all of the scheme partners have worked closely to remediate the site and implement groundbreaking, innovative and specialist technologies in order to combat the hazardous nature of its former life, whilst recognising and protecting its wildlife habitat. We are delighted that this work has been so highly praised.
“We are looking forward to the next stage of the project, completing the remediation of the site and creating the whole landform and development which will ensure the site’s long term economic benefits are achieved.”
Steve Collins, HCA Senior Regeneration Manager, added: “The Avenue represents one of most significant remediation projects in the UK. HCA is committed to delivering high quality sustainable regeneration. Seeing the work done to regenerate this area recognised at a national level is testament to the commitment and hard work of all partners.”
The remediation scheme at The Avenue has previously picked up awards from the Institution of Civil Engineers, Best Conceptual Design category at the Brownfield Briefing Remediation Innovation Awards and first place in the Conservation Category for Restoration sites in the British Trust for Ornithology (BTO) Business Bird Challenge 2006.
ENDS
For further information please contact Victoria Dyson, emda PR & Media Manager, on 0115 947 1778 or victoriadyson@emd.org.uk
Notes to editors:
The Landscape Institute
The Landscape Institute is the professional body and regulator for landscape architecture. Under its Royal Charter the Landscape Institute is charged with protecting, conserving and enhancing the natural and built environment for the benefit of the public.
Landscape architecture is the profession best able to provide a holistic approach to creating places where people want to live and work both now and in the future. The Landscape Institute promotes landscape architecture as the environment and design profession, one that works with communities to create places that respect their environmental context and contribute to a high quality of life.
About The Avenue:
• The former Avenue Coking Works, near Chesterfield, opened in 1956 and closed in 1992.
• The site covers 240 acres – equivalent to 200 football pitches.
• At its peak, the works employed 800 people and produced 1,400 tonnes of smokeless fuel a day.
• A full Planning application for the remediation of the site was submitted to Derbyshire County Council in May 2007.
• Once works commence they will take around 5 years (including the planting of the site) and are currently programmed to end in 2013.
• Cleaning up the site will be one of largest applications of new remediation technologies in Europe and will place the Avenue project at the leading edge of sustainable brownfield regeneration.
• It will be an example of best practice in contaminated land reclamation and partnership working.
• The project is the largest single project in the National Coalfields Programme.
• Three quarters of the site will become open space and new amenity areas, sustainable ecological habitats and wetlands will be created with the Land Restoration Trust and Derbyshire Wildlife Trust advising on these aspects. The remaining quarter of the site is designated for mixed use redevelopment.
• The former Avenue Coking Works, near Chesterfield, opened in 1956 and closed in 1992. During that time, the works produced thousands of tonnes of coke and provided town gas for Chesterfield.
• Remediation contractor VSD Avenue was appointed in 2006 to design the most effective processes to treat gross contamination of the land following decades of coke and chemical production.
• VSD Avenue is a fully integrated joint venture comprising Deme Environmental Contractors (DEC NV), Volker Stevin Ltd and Sita Remediation. The consortium brings together companies from the UK and Europe with skills in specialist contaminated land remediation technique
About emda
East Midlands Development Agency (emda) is one of nine Regional Development Agencies in England, set up in 1999 to bring a regional focus to economic development.
Working in partnership with public, private and voluntary organisations the aim is to deliver the 2006 Regional Economic Strategy (RES) ‘A Flourishing Region’, which sets out regional priorities until 2020.
The RES, coordinated by emda, highlights the themes of productivity, sustainability and equality and builds on the previous two strategies; ‘Prosperity Through People’ and ‘Destination 2010’.
In early 2007 the National Audit Office announced emda had received the highest possible grade of 'performing strongly' in an independent assessment of our work - scoring 22 out of 24.
For more details visit www.emda.org.uk .
About The Homes and Communities Agency (HCA)
The HCA is the single, national housing and regeneration agency for England. We bring together English Partnerships, investment functions of the Housing Corporation, and the Academy for Sustainable Communities, with major delivery programmes of Communities and Local Government.
The agency’s vision is about creating opportunity for people to live in homes they can afford, in places they want to live and for local authorities and communities to deliver the ambition they have for their own areas.
This will be achieved by:
• Acting as the bridge between national targets and local ambitions, with a strong regional presence;
• Through a process of 'single conversations' with local authorities, RDAs and sub regional partnerships;
• Working effectively with the market, housebuilders, investors and other stakeholders;
• Understanding the needs and aspirations of people and communities.
