River restoration: Saving Saffron Brook

• River restoration and floodplain connection works undertaken at 5 inner city sites in Leicester and 4 sites in the suburban and rural area of Oadby & Wigston
• Interventions benefitting ~2.5km of the Saffron and Wash Brook
• 100 trees planted in the riparian zone for shading, habitat and stabilising banks
• 7 Wetland areas created or enhanced at 4 sites across Leicester City and Oadby & Wigston
• SuDS and Natural flood management features installed across the catchment
• Re-naturalisation works undertaken at 4 sites, to remove culverts, large debris and engineered concrete bed/banks
• Wetland marsh enhancement scheme undertaken at Lucas Marsh
• Plans to setback 2 outfalls to help improve water quality within the brook

The premier challenge for Trent Rivers Trust is to improve the health and functioning of Wash Brook and Saffron Brook river systems (hereafter Saffron Brook) by directly restoring large areas of this heavily degraded river ecosystem and reconnect the Saffron Brook with its floodplain. Like many urban rivers in the UK, Saffron Brook is designated heavily modified, containing vast areas of concrete channel, engineered flood defences and problematic culverts and weirs throughout, which cause detrimental effects on the river habitat, water quality, biodiversity and general connectivity/passage. Saffron Brook forms a key strategic wildlife corridor in the region, linking the centre of Leicester to Oadby and Wigston, rural Leicestershire and beyond. However, Saffron Brook is classified as ‘moderate’ for ecological status and bad for phosphate. The brooks are also failing for ‘Chemical’ and ‘Priority hazardous substances’ including mercury, and PBDEs. The main Water Framework Directive “Reasons for Not Achieving Good” status (RNAGs) for ecological status are linked with physical modifications and diffuse and point source pollution from urban transport drainage, and sewage discharge. Therefore, Saffron Brook is widely recognised as in great need of transformative river restoration for the benefit of people and wildlife. A major challenge of working in urban river systems is the availability of suitable sites for river restoration and habitat creation, meaning that ecological potential must be maximised in

Working in partnership with Leicester City, the broader Saving the Saffron Brook project aims to bring local communities closer to nature, particularly communities that were hit hard by the Covid pandemic. This includes creation of meaningful and wide-ranging employment and volunteer opportunities that greatly improve the lives of socially deprived local communities by actively connecting them with nature, and creating a local Nature Recovery Network. Our collective aim is to restore, educate and demonstrate the value of the natural environment to the local communities.

River restoration, habitat creation and natural flood management interventions at multiple sites along the Saffron Brook have been reinvigorated through a combination of river restoration works, floodplain habitat creation, re-naturalisation and introducing more complexity to the watercourse in the forms of large woody debris, addition of gravel and brushwood mattresses. This includes 4 key strategic locations identified for maximum biodiversity and community benefit; Knighton Park, Overdale School, Washbrook Nature Area and Hughenden Drive

River banks have been re-profiled in several locations to improve natural flow, erosion and deposition regimes.

Brushwood mattresses and large woody debris has been installed to add increased complexity to the watercourse, vary flow patterns and provide food and shelter for fish and macroinvertebrates. They will also provide epiphytic habitat for microscopic algae (e.g. diatoms).

Concrete has been removed from 3 sites to re-naturalise the brook

Wetlands and backwaters have been created and large woody debris installed at multiple sites as biodiversity boosters, but they also help improve water quality by trapping sediment and reduce nutrient-rich run-off entering the river.

Riparian trees have been planted in multiple areas to increase habitat availability, offer some shading to the river and stabilise the river banks.

These works, along with those listed below, will be expanded from the key strategic sites to join-up the 3 statutory Local Nature Reserves and 16 non-statutory Local Wildlife Sites located within the wider catchment, linking these sites together to create a Nature Recovery Network that supports vulnerable species at a landscape scale. The legacy of this project remains important to us, to ensure that the good work continues after the project end date.

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