29 June 2007

£2.5m University project for River Don floodplain

The University of Sheffield has been awarded a major grant by the Engineering and Physical Sciences Research Council (EPSRC), to look at the redevelopment of the River Don floodplain in South Yorkshire, to create a place where people can live and work safely, now and in the future. The green light for the project has been welcomed by the Environment Agency as "great news", providing a substantial body of research which will "make a vital contribution to learning from the recent flooding events".

The £2.5 million project, `Urban River Corridors and Sustainable Living Agendas´ is supported by Sheffield City Council and the Environment Agency and many non-governmental organisations. It aims to identify the social, economic and environmental gains to be made from innovative interventions in urban river corridors, using the River Don and its tributaries as a case study.

The timely project, which will run over four years, will be led by the Catchment Science Centre (CSC) at the University. The CSC is a collaborative research initiative, established jointly by the University of Sheffield and the Environment Agency. It draws expertise from multiple academic departments at Sheffield, incorporating a real mix of disciplines from engineering through to ecology, planning and the social sciences.

The research will be based around four main themes –`People´, `Design´, `River´ and `Values´. `People´ will include the stakeholders, the people that live and work in the area and the organisations responsible for managing the land and river. These people will be asked what they want and the researchers will look at how these ideas can be implemented. `Design´ will consider possibilities for innovation and intervention, whether through new concepts or better integration of existing ideas. `River´, will examine the environmental issues in the area, for example, ecology, flood capacity and pollution. Finally, `Values´ will consider the agents of change or money available. This theme will address what are the costs and benefits of different ideas and what are the most sustainable, workable solutions.

The project will involve a mix of evidence gathering, for example fieldwork on the river´s ecology, people´s desires and opinions, storm drainage, property values, as well as the use of tools and models. These will be used to visualise future scenarios, examine what can be gained from different kinds of development, and model how the rivers work and deliver environmental benefits.

Professor David Lerner, from the Catchment Science Centre at the University, who will lead the project, said: "We are delighted to have been awarded this grant and to be able to work in partnership with Sheffield City Council, the Environment Agency and other organisations that have done so much already to improve the River Don floodplain, over the last decade or so. We are looking forward to working with them to add our academic expertise and time to their practical skills and local knowledge."

He added: "Almost all of Sheffield´s strategic redevelopment areas are in the river corridors of the Don, Sheaf and Porter. The project provides a chance to think hard about what to consider in the future and how to get the right balance of social, economic and environmental benefits."

Simon Ogden, Sheffield City Council's Head of Development Services, said:" The City Council has fully supported this project from its inception as a way of harnessing the world class expertise of the University to this critical issue for the Sheffield Region. The granting of the funding at this particular juncture could not be more timely and we look forward to meeting with the team to plan a practical programme of investigation, which will strengthen our own work and that of the Environment Agency."

Martin Slater, the Environment Agency´s Area Planning and Corporate Services Manager, said:" The Environment Agency takes the leading role in helping this country adapt to the inevitable impacts of climate change. We will need to build greater resilience to higher temperatures, rising sea levels and `boom or bust´ rainfall patterns. There will be a greater need to flood proof our towns and cities. It is great news that the Catchment Science Centre has been successfully awarded the funding to carry out this project."

Notes for Editors: The Departments from the University involved in the project include: The Department of Civil and Structural Engineering; The Department of Town and Regional Planning; The Department of Landscape; The School of Architecture; The Department of Geography; The Department of Computer Science; The Department of Animal and Plant Sciences; and The Department of Sociological Studies.

Researchers from the Universities of Durham and Bradford are also involved in this project.

The University´s Accommodation and Campus Services (ACS) has been busy providing accommodation to families from Winn Gardens, evacuated from their homes due to the floods.

Following a call from Sheffield Homes, The Arms Length Management Organisation (ALMO) in charge of managing Council housing in Sheffield, teams from across ACS quickly rose to the challenge to prepare suitable accommodation for the families affected. Many members of staff stayed late into the evening to meet the families and provide further support, including some essential hot meals.

For further information please contact: Jenny Wilson, Media Relations Officer on 0114 2225339 or email j.c.wilson@sheffield.ac.uk

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