Children from Appleton Primary School spent a morning planting hedges and learning of the benefits of Hull City Council’s Setting Dyke Catchment Improvement Scheme.
The pupils were given expert talks from the council’s flood resilience team before planting hedges which will help to protect the new natural flood management feature.
The youngsters also learnt about habitat creation as part of the project from Yorkshire Wildlife Trust, as well as the wildlife which could be seen on site.
Setting Dyke Catchment Improvement Scheme is currently in phase one of the construction of habitat and a flood storage feature within the watercourse to improve flood defences in the area, directly protected seven homes.
Setting Dyke carries water from agricultural land in the East Riding, a storage lagoon and the surrounding neighbourhoods of Willerby, Derringham and Bricknell.
Hull City Council is working with partners Dynamic Drains and Living with Water on the project which will also help to increase biodiversity in an urban area.
The scheme, funded through Environment Agency Flood Defence Grant in Aid, has been designed to provide opportunities for the local community to engage in litter picking to help with both the flood resilience and habitat protection.
Signage will explain what the feature is for and how to use the infrastructure provided to safely litter pick in the dyke.
Phase one of the Setting Dyke Catchment Improvement Scheme has seen steel steps and railings installed on the south bank of the dyke to allow the public to clear small debris and litter.
A flood platform, planted with marginal rushes and reeds, will be constructed within the ditch at a height just above the average winter depth of the flow, to provide more space for higher flows and will serve to trap sediment.
Additionally, this measure, along with a large woody debris stuffed gully section downstream, will deliver environmental enhancements, habitat creation and sediment and debris control.
Finally, excavated material from the flood platform construction will be used to fortify the bunds on the northern side of the dyke opposite a spillway into the functional floodplain to further protect the properties on Cropton Road.
During construction, there will be short term disruption to the bridge access over the dyke at the northwest corner of Bricknell Playing Field, however the Public Right of Way access along the dyke and through the wood will be maintained.
