January 2009
A project that Halcrow worked on has received a Best Practice award from the Institute of Ecology and Environmental Management (IEEM).
Halcrow carried out the initial design and consenting studies for a large realignment scheme at Hesketh Out Marsh West, on the south bank of the Ribble Estuary, near Preston, Lancashire.
The scheme, which had a grand opening in mid-September, allowed defence works at Morecambe to proceed by providing compensatory habitat.
The scheme also strengthened the existing defences at the Hesketh site and, by creating valuable habitats for birds, also benefitted the natural environment.
Halcrow carried out the design for client the Environment Agency working in partnership with RSPB. The construction was then completed by the client partnership.
Halcrow’s project manager Emma Tovey said: “Halcrow was fortunate to work on the initial design of this large, challenging realignment scheme up to planning permission stage. It is an innovative scheme as it is one of the first to extensively recreate the network of creeks that existed on the site before it was reclaimed for agriculture. This should speed up the development of intertidal habitat and allowed for all the soil needed to create and strengthen flood defences to be sourced from within the site itself.”
Covering 168ha, the successful scheme is one of the largest managed realignments in the UK and has returned land to a tidal regime by setting back of the line of defences. It was seen as a great success by the Environment agency. Ian Rowland, the scheme’s business sponsor for the Environment Agency said: “The excellent support of the Halcrow project team enabled a smooth transition through the planning process and provided an essential sound basis for us to progress the detailed design and for us to complete this exciting project”.
The Best Practice Awards is a national competition for projects displaying best practice whilst contributing to the five objectives of the IEEM.