Volunteers help put final touches to work at Short Brook

Volunteers helped put the final touches to a series of flood risk management and habitat improvement works carried out along Short Brook by the River Stewardship Company in partnership with Sheffield City Council.

The RSC team have been working hard to pollard a number of dead or dangerous large willows that were at risk of falling onto the public footpath. The emergency works were undertaken with support of local businesses to ensure limbs were not at risk or harming the general public.

The team also removed two large blockages in the channel adjacent to several commercial units to reduce the upstream water levels and the risk of flooding.

A small section of the channel has been redirected to improve the flows and to allow the large willows, which were blocking the channel to still remain in situ. Natural flood management measures were installed further down stream, away from the local businesses to encourage the filling of adjacent wetland area.

The creation of three 'natural' blockages using timber from the pollarded willows will slow the flow of water following heavy rainfall and help connect the river to an area of wetland adjacent to the stream.  

The volunteers collected 14 bags of rubbish and planted 350 hawthorne and blackthorne whips on the areas of excavated earth and within the woodland clearings, following recommendations from the Sheffield City Council Ecologists. These trees will help create some low dense scrubby habitat which is great for foraging birds.

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