This week, our communications manager Sally Owen had a fascinating visit to Bungay with Martha Meek, Development Manager for River Waveney Trust following their successful application for funding from Durrants Charitable Foundation.
The River Waveney Trust is an environmental charity dedicated to ensuring that the waters, habitats and catchment of this lowland river are healthy for wildlife and people. Their objectives are to collaboratively deliver river enhancement and protection projects to benefit wildlife, public access, water quality and natural flood management. The Trust was formed in 2012 and is part of a network of around 60 local trusts affiliated to the national Rivers Trust umbrella body.
Martha applied to Durrants for funding on behalf of RWT in order to hold an event in partnership with the charity Groundwork, on Natural Flood Management (NFM), as an introduction to the concept for the local communities of the Waveney Valley. Durrants’ is delighted to be involved in this project having such close connections with land owners across the Waveney Valley, and has provided funding of £1,600 to support the event.
Natural Flood Management involves the use of natural processes to slow, capture, re-direct or store flood waters at times of high rainfall. This can prevent so much water from quickly flowing off the land and to the main river where it can cause flooding to homes and businesses. NFM measures can include tree or hedge planting near the river, installing ‘leaky’ dams made from natural timber to hold back water, digging small pools or ponds to capture and store flood water and allowing the river to flow onto the grassed floodplains where there is no risk to people or farmland.
It is hoped that the event, which is scheduled for November 2021 (date TBC), will pave the way for a longer-term practical project to work with communities and landowners to install NFM features into the landscape.
