Nottinghamshire will benefit to the tune of £19 million when the country's largest fish pass, which is now halfway through construction, is completed. Work on the huge project at the Holme Sluices barrier in Colwick, for which the Environmental Agency has allocated £9.7m of funds, is expected to be completed in August 2023.
Holme Sluices, which was built in the 1950s and opened by the late Prince Philip, spans the full width of the River Trent and is used by the Environment Agency to protect Nottingham from flooding and control river levels upstream. However, the scale of the barrier also means it is the largest barrier to the natural migration of fish in the Midlands, which the new fish pass would correct by using narrow slots and ascending chambers to allow Salmon, Lamprey, Eels, and other fish to swim past Holme Sluices.
The Environment Agency, which is heading the project, says this will allow migratory fish to access spawning grounds upstream, provide better wildlife habitats, and improve the biodiversity of the area. Ricky Lee, Project Manager at the Environment Agency, said: "Construction of the Colwick (Holme Sluices) fish pass is now over 50 percent complete and the excavation of the Colwick (Holme Sluices) fish pass channel is now complete.
Read more: More than 4,500 homes in Nottingham empty according to government data
"The majority of the remaining work heading into 2023 is the construction of the concrete channel that sits within the fish pass and the installation of the radial gate that controls the flow of water within the fish pass. Once all works are fully completed in August 2023, the fish pass will be the largest in the country. It will allow migratory fish to access spawning grounds upstream, provide better wildlife habitats, and improve the biodiversity of the area.
"At 200m long, the fish pass is 6m deep and 6.5m wide. Once complete it will open up the River Trent for fish and eels. As the River Trent is a large river, there was a need for the fish pass to be large to convince fish that it is part of the natural river system to pass up it.
"There are a number of barriers to fish migration within the River Trent catchment, including the Environment Agency-owned Holme Sluices, which is the largest barrier to the natural migration of fish in the Midlands. By installing a fish passage, it will become easier for salmon and other fish to reach their spawning and feeding grounds."
Mr Lee said a lot of preparation work had to be completed before the construction of the pass started. He added that after dealing with challenges such as 110-tonne deliveries into Colwick Country Park and an important time window, no more complications were expected for the scheme.
"There were a lot of enabling works needed to be completed prior to the fish pass channel works beginning. Service diversions, temporary access into the park to allow 110-tonne deliveries and road and footpath diversions all brought multiple challenges and complexes that were required to be overcome to enable the project to remain on programme," Mr Lee said.
"We were also constrained by an environmental window to undertake works within the main river channel which could have caused significant delays should we not have completed the works in time. Given the fish pass channel has now been excavated there are not any known challenges anticipated.
It is hoped the pass will not only help improve wildlife habitats, but reduce flooding risks and create nearly £20m of benefits for the local area. Mr Lee added: "Our aim is to create a healthy watercourse that not only reduces flood risk and provides better wildlife habitats but also engages local communities about the natural and social history of the river. The direct environmental benefits of the fish pass will be £18.6m.
"This includes 60km of river improvement from poor to good status for fish, as well as 60km of new spawning habitat immediately upstream of the barrier. It will also aid interconnectivity with numerous other fish passage schemes previously constructed upstream by the Environment Agency. Visitors to Colwick Country Park will be able to look up and down the fish pass from a viewing platform over the water.
"The fish pass is the first scheme of the ambitious Trent Gateway Partnership which aims to remove all barriers to fish migration along the River Trent. The Trent Gateway project is part of the Lower Trent and Erewash Catchment Partnership, hosted by the Trent Rivers Trust, which is leading on the development of projects to further enhance the river and deliver the ambition of Trent Gateway. 30 local partner organisations, including the Environment Agency, have been developing the ambitious project to restore the River Trent and reconnect communities and wildlife within it."
There will be an eel pass to help support the critically endangered European Eel as well as a public viewing platform so people can try and spot fish. Nottingham City Council is also developing plans to create an education hub at Colwick Country Park, where visitors could learn about the River Trent and its history.
Read next:
