Work starts on restoring country park wetlands

Billingham Beck Valley Country Park will see £1m of improvements

Work starts this week on a £1m project which will open up 55km (35 miles) of river for fish.

The Billingham Beck Valley Country Park habitat restoration project will see wetland restored and better community access to the attraction.

It is part of the £30m Tees Tidelands Programme, a set of projects to bring improvements to the River Tees Estuary.

Project manager for the Environment Agency, Paul Eckersley, says the scheme "will bring a much needed boost to biodiversity and water quality".

National Highways funding

National Highways approved most of the £1m funding for the project, which is aligned with its scheme to improve the A19 between Norton and Wynyard.

Measures to improve wildlife habitats and support water quality improvements at Billingham Beck and Thorpe Beck include:

• Partly removing a weir to open up more of the water courses for migrating fish from the River Tees

• Adding woody debris dams and shallow ditches to reconnect Billingham Beck to floodplains, restoring areas of wetland

• Upgrading footpaths and improving landscaping

• Improving vehicle access to allow for easier maintenance of the new wetlands

Years of modifications to watercourses have led to the loss of wetland habitat

Over the years, watercourses have been altered, with channels straightened and deepened, and culverts and a weir introduced.

Mr Eckersley calls the new project "exciting", after "decades of modification saw precious habitat lost".

Stockton Council’s cabinet member for environment and transport, councillor Clare Gamble, said: “Billingham Beck Valley has long been known as an area rich in wildlife and we’re delighted to be involved in this project."

The restoration, led by the Environment Agency in partnership with Stockton Council and National Highways, will be complete by the autumn.

National Highways Project Manager Connor Walls said: “Environmental sustainability is key to everything we do and through supporting this fantastic community green space, we’ll be helping improve local biodiversity and bring benefits to the wider community and the area’s wildlife.”