Environment Awards: Build Environment: Projects Under £1m Winner: Fishlake Restoration, By Interserve

Efforts over the past decade to clean up what has long been regarded as one of Britain’s dirtiest rivers have made a sizeable impact, however – and have laid the groundwork for even more ambitious environmental schemes.

One such major project now approaching completion has been undertaken at Fishlake, a small village midway between Doncaster and Goole which lies on the banks of the Don.

The Environment Agency employed development firm Interserve to transform a sprawling 150-acre piece of dry, riverside grazing land into a flourishing marshland area. It is already proving the perfect habitat for an array of wetland birds, mammals and plants.

“There would have been wetlands here back in the 17th century,” said Interserve sustainability manager Julie Bankes. “The River Don was actually moved by engineers back then, and the area drained in order to make the river navigable so they could get barges up and down it.”

The £850,000 project saw Interserve use its specialist skills to carefully construct key breaks and channels into riverbanks and restore the area to traditional marshland.

The transformation has been stunning, winning Interserve the award for projects under £1m, sponsored by Logistik.

What Miss Bankes described as “a big black field with embankments around it” has been turned into a marsh-lovers’ paradise of wet grasslands and shallow pools.

It is already providing a haven for wetland birds and waders alike, including swans, geese, moorhens, redshank, snipe and redwing.

Mammals such as otters and water voles will flourish, while the still, shallow waters provide perfect spawning grounds for many types of fish. Cows continue to graze the land and keep plants at manageable levels.

The scheme is part of a concerted effort by the Environment Agency to restore some of England’s precious wetland areas, many of which were drained 300 years ago to create agricultural land.

“These schemes do go on, but this one is rare because of the sheer size of it,” Miss Bankes said. “To create something on this scale really is quite unusual – 60 hectares (150 acres) is a huge area of land.”

Fishlake residents were initially concerned that the scheme could increase the risk of flooding in the area – but the Environment Agency has undertaken detailed work to prove there will be no negative impact.

The area has full public access, complete with new footpaths and walkways, and Miss Bankes said local people have now fully embraced it.

“People go for strolls down there and walk their dogs, and it is very popular,” she said. “I have to say this is the first time I’ve been back here since we finished, and to see it as it is at the moment, all green and glowing with living things, is just so nice to see.”