End of an era for Derek’s years of restoration

Thirteen years and £20m of restoration work on a former coke works in South Yorkshire is set to come to an end next month - with some real environmental enhancements gained.

The Waverley site, which had been used for more than 200 years for coal mining and industrial activity, has undergone a total transformation since 1995 from a bleak mining site with dirty rivers and contaminated land, to an area with a real future.

More than four million tonnes of waste from the former coke works and 30 million tonnes of spoil contained in the Orgreave colliery pit tip has been remediated as part of the Orgreave Reclamation Scheme as well as the re-routing, decontamination and aeration of the River Rother.

The work takes the River Rother from the dirtiest river in Europe to a habitat for wildlife, flora and fauna and marks another step towards helping to secure the redevelopment of the site to create a sustainable community through the Waverley masterplan.

Site manager, Derek Harrison, (55) from Newcastle-upon-Tyne, has seen Waverley’s regeneration first hand, after working alongside more than 120 colleagues on the 741-acre site for more than eight years for owners property and energy company UK COAL.

Derek has worked on the contouring of development platforms, a major surface water drainage scheme, landscape planting, ecological enhancements and the implementation of public footpaths.

He said: It has been extremely rewarding to see Waverley develop from an industrial wasteland into a vast restored area.

When I started the job, the site was principally recovering shallow coal reserves, it looked completely different, barely recognisable as it is today.

But the team’s hard work has paid off, as it’s gone from a dark, dirty and smelly area, to a mass of remediated landscape which we hope to secure a sustainable community on, complete with lakes and reservoirs, improved public access and the creation of dedicated woodland and wildflower grasslands.

The river was once the dirtiest in Europe, but now has good water quality. To add to this, the land has been designed to attract nature.

There are already are a variety of birds and water wildlife making home here, which is a huge difference compared to when Waverley was an industrial area.

UK COAL wants to redevelop the site at Waverley over the next 25 years, into a sustainable mixed use community, including approximately 4,000 houses, community facilities and green areas. The restoration of the site has been a crucial pre-cursor to the proposed planning application.

Derek added: For decades residents in the surrounding communities have known the site as an industrial area. When the mining and coking plants closed many thought there was no real future for the site.

Now, we’ve given the land a purpose by preparing it for a sustainable development with masses of green space. It has been a mammoth job - the site is the same size of Sheffield city centre, but for me, it has been one of the most rewarding I’ve ever been involved with.

As the restoration is almost finished I’m very proud of the achievement we’ve made, but I’ll be sad to leave the site. I’ve spent a long time on the project so it’s like the end of an era, but when the area is complete I’ll always remember that we had a hand in making it what it will be in the future.

A huge thanks to all staff and employees whose passionate efforts have created the finished project.

The next stage in the development process, is planting in accordance of the restoration scheme, scheduled this winter.

UK COAL is submitting an outline planning application to Rotherham Metropolitan Borough Council later this summer.

Public opinion on the proposed Waverley site can be given at UK COAL’S remaining public consultation meeting, scheduled for:

Thursday 3 July, 5.30pm - 7.30pm, Aston Parish Hall, 5.30pm-6.30pm drop in, 6.30pm presentation