Volunteers DIG-in to create rain gardens and build flood resilience in Doncaster (1)

Volunteers from City of Doncaster Council, Connected by Water and Yorkshire Water rolled up their sleeves last week to help plant new rain gardens in Clay Lane, Doncaster, as part of a nature-based project to reduce the risk of flooding. 

The volunteer planting day saw over 1,800 plants added to the newly-created roadside rain gardens, as part of the Doncaster, Immingham and Grimsby (DIG) Surface Water Resilience Project. 

Daniel House, drainage and flood risk engineer, Doncaster Council, said:  “The rain garden planting is an effective next step in our sustainable drainage (SuDS) features to improve flood resilience, in areas of the city where there isn’t scope for large-scale flood alleviation works. 

“SuDS are a natural alternative to rainwater flowing directly into the sewers, which are sometimes unable to cope with extremely heavy rainfall. Instead, rainwater is transported into green areas to be soaked up by plants and trees or stored in ponds and drained away more slowly to a watercourse or the sewer.” 

Following a public consultation with local residents and with advice from horticultural specialists - purple coneflower, tufted hair-grass, blue moor-grass, Turkish sage, sea holly, blazing star, Culver's root and globe thistle – were planted because of their ability to cope with both very wet and very dry conditions.   

Rain gardens form part of a wider approach to managing heavy and prolonged rainfall, slowing the flow of surface water entering the sewer network.  They also help to improve biodiversity creating, attractive, green spaces, for residents and local wildlife alike. 

Eve Pierrepont, resilience partnership portfolio manager at Yorkshire Water, said: 
“Getting involved in the planting was a great opportunity for colleagues and partners to get out into the community and play a hands-on role in bringing the scheme to life. 

“It was a really enjoyable volunteer day, but behind all that planting is an important purpose. These rain gardens form part of a wider approach to slowing the amount of surface water entering the sewer network and reducing the likelihood of flooding.  Projects like DIG show what can be achieved when organisations work together and look at different, more sustainable ways to improve flood resilience.” 

Daniel House from City of Doncaster Council, Eve Pierrepont from Yorkshire Water together with Connect by Water graduates, Heather Pitchford, Elise Hollywood, Mia Squires and Rob Kingham spent a full day planting over 1,800 sturdy rain and drought resilient plants to create an attractive rain garden in Clay Lane, Doncaster.  The rain garden acts as a nature-based Sustainable Drainage System (SuDs) as well as providing an attractive, green space for the community. 

The Doncaster Immingham and Grimsby (DIG) project is a partnership between Northeast Lincolnshire Council, City of Doncaster Council, Anglian Water and Yorkshire Water.  Together the partners aim to use innovative sustainable drainage (SuDS) techniques to improve flood resilience and bring communities closer to nature.  

Connected by Water is a South Yorkshire partnership bringing together local authorities, Yorkshire Water, the Environment Agency and South Yorkshire Mayoral Combined Authority to work collaboratively on water and flood resilience. More information is available from Connected by Water. 

This project is funded by Defra as part of the £200 million Flood and Coastal Innovation Programmes which is managed by the Environment Agency.