Floods turn park into Coleshill's lake district
28/11/09, by Mike Walpole - Coleshill resident
NWBC seems to recognise the flood risk at Cole End Park. But has it really seen how fast river levels rise and the acreage it floods?
In the Green Strategy section on biodiversity and climate change, it says well-managed, multi-functional green space benefits both people and wildlife and can contribute to the mitigation of the effects of climate change.
And so it will:
seek opportunities to enhance and conserve biodiversity through habitat creation and management when developing individual site management plans and grounds maintenance schedulesseek opportunities to mitigate the effects of climate change, particularly increased flood risk, through appropriate planting and land management when developing individual site management plans and grounds maintenance schedulessupport partners to enhance and conserve biodiversity on publicly accessible sites.work with partners to increase opportunities for community engagement in habitat creation and management projects.These pictures show flooding at Cole End Park on 14 September 2006.
Environment Agency records show that heavy rain on 14 and 15 June had the worst effect on the urban areas around the River Cole and River Blythe, where runoff from hard surfaces and drainage problems caused surface water flooding and exceptionally quick rises in river levels.
On 15 June the River Cole in Coleshill reached a record peak of 1.967m. The previously highest recorded was in August 1999 when the river reached 1.52m.
The River Cole rose again to a level of 1.687m on 20 July at 18:45.
The River Blythe at Castle Farm also reached record levels. On 16 June the river reached 2.195m, then on 21 July it reached 2.315m, which is the highest level on record.
These and heavy rain on 20 July caused major flooding of properties and severe traffic and rail disruption after river banks and defences were overtopped.
During the June flooding, Tudor Grange rainfall gauge in Solihull recorded 62mm of rain in just eight hours, more than the long-term average rainfall total for the whole of June.
In July that year there was almost three times the total monthly long-term average rain over the catchment.
As the water rose to these extraordinary levels on both occasions the river banks and drains were overwhelmed, causing water to spread into the floodplain and flooding homes and businesses.
NWBC Local Nature Reserves Project - Cole End Park
27/11/ 2009, by Mike Walpole - Coleshill resident
The Borough Council is currently working with a number of organisations to find funding for a project which will improve 5 existing green space sites with the aim of creating Local Nature Reserves.
This project forms part of the Green Space Strategy undertaken by NWBC for 2008-2018, which supports Green Space projects that deliver against the key priorities set out in the Strategy.
One of the sites under consideration is the area linking the children’s play area accessed from Old Mill Road with Cole End park.
NWBC organised a consultation event in August to discover what interest there was in the project in advance of a funding bid being submitted to the Access to Nature Programme.
Seven people turned up on the day during some very heavy rain showers in the morning - so these were mainly people who were braving the weather to walk dogs
A questionnaire was delievered to properties surrounding the park. Nearly 60 came back.
Improvements highlighted were: better paths, a clean-up, tree planting and creation of wildlife habitats.
NWBC also had a good response from people wanting to take part in activities and help make decisions on improvement and management of the park.
The information gathered will form part of the funding bid (due to be submitted either by the end of the year or early 2010). We'll know if we've been successful with funding by Spring 2010.
If successful the funding will be used to create five local nature sites in North Warwickshire.
Cole End Park is looking for a friend to love it
28/11/09, by Mike Walpole - Coleshill resident
NWBC is to set up a network of Friends Groups to develop and look after local green spaces. It is keen to encourage people to use their local spaces and to take pride in their development.
It says in its strategy document: “Green space is for people. It is somewhere to relax, to enjoy sport and recreation and to enjoy the natural environment. Local spaces can provide a focus for family outings and for community activities.”
The Borough Council is also hoping to set up a federation of allotments associations for North Warwickshire to help regenerate underused sites or to establish new ones. It plans to publicise and promote our green spaces, play and sports facilities throughleaflets and other promotional material and through the Internet.
Parky makes a return - Forty years ago and more ago, he was the law in parks and play areas up and down the country. Now “Parky” is back. NWBC proposes to introduce a park ranger service to provide site supervision, ensuring a regular presence at each of their parks, play areas and recreation grounds and a quick response to vandalism and anti-social behaviour
Old King Cole cleans up his act !
27/11/09, by Mike Walpole - Coleshill resident
Water quality in the Cole is a lot better than it used to be, as this picture of Coleshill church members inspecting a fresh water mussel shows.
In the 1980s there used to be a lot of industrial pollution. As this became less of a problem, sewage pollution from misconnected plumbing remained but a lot of work has been done to resolve this issue.
The river now supports chub, dace, roach, perch, gudgeon, minnows, stickleback, bullhead, stone loach and pike. There may even be the occasional trout, which are present upstream in the headwaters.
Vicar Nick Parker and others took several tyres out of the river when the church went on a river clean up earlier this year.
COLESHILL
Keeping the community spirit alive !
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