Partners from across Europe visited Enfield (19 September) to see examples of how the borough is leading the way in managing surface water flooding, reducing the impact of climate change and creating attractive spaces for communities.
The delegation from Europe visited Firs Farm Wetlands and Pymmes Park Wetlands. Both have been hugely successful in not only protecting the homes around them from flooding and creating havens for wildlife, but also in creating vibrant social hubs for sport and other activities.
In addition, the delegates were shown the rain gardens along Enfield’s new Cycle Enfield scheme. These small landscaped features have a significant impact on drainage systems which would otherwise struggle to cope with excess rain water.
Many of Enfield’s projects have support from the EU Interreg North Sea Region and involve partners from Belgium, Germany, Sweden, The Netherlands and the UK to deliver the Blue Green Infrastructure through Social Innovation project BEGIN. The project, which started in 2017 and will run until 2020, brings together engineering, creative and social design with communities to collaborate on the creation and maintenance of solutions which can help to make our urban environments resilient to coping with the impacts of climate change.
Enfield Council’s Cabinet Member for Environment, Cllr Guney Dogan, said: “We are extremely proud of the work in Enfield to manage residual pollution, to build flood relief schemes and to protect the environment and people’s homes. With our partners at BEGIN, we are continuously learning about and enhancing existing mitigation measures while involving the community at every stage.”
After visiting Enfield, the partners from across Europe and the UK went on to Kent to continue discussions, share ideas and experiences.
To find out more about Enfield’s structures and watercourses team, why not follow them on Twitter @EnfieldSuDS or search the hashtag #BlueGreenInfrastructure. To volunteer at our wetlands in projects such as tree planting, contact @EnfieldCouncil on Twitter or Facebook or email Loretta.Hoy@enfield.gov.uk.