Share this article share on facebook share on twitter share on Bluesky

Firs Farm Wetlands has won a Living Waterways Awards in the 2017 competition, which is run by the Canal & River Trust, the national charity which has the task of protecting more than 2000 miles of waterways in England and Wales.

Firs Farm, located on the borders of Palmers Green, Winchmore Hill and Edmonton, was winner of the Contribution to the Natural Environment category.  The judges commented that "The highly integrated nature of this scheme, involving very active partners and close co-operation between different professional disciplines, is truly inspiring."

living waterways awardFirs Farm Wetlands is a new urban park close to the River Lee in Enfield, following the restoration of  500 metres of the Moore Brook, a ‘lost’ tributary of Pymmes Brook, itself a tributary of the River Lee.

A once featureless playing-field margin has been transformed into a natural flood management area providing new wetland habitats, flood water storage and surface water filtration to improve water quality.

As well as a better aspect and enhanced local biodiversity, over 100 homes have been given improved flood defence and a section of the A10 dual carriageway is protected from potential flooding.  A cycleway and network of footpaths, outdoor classroom, dipping platform and several seating areas have been added to encourage visitors and create better green links between Winchmore Hill and Edmonton.

The list of projects and achievements by the Friends of Firs Farm seems to grow almost by the day.  The Friends are now over 70 per cent of the way to raising £10,000 in order to set up a community cafe at Firs Farm, which would do much more than just sell food and drink.  You can pledge money to this worthy cause on Spacehive at spacehive.com/firsfarmcafe.

September saw the first monthly Children's Eco Club, when children are taught about nature by an expert.  You need to reserve places, which are very limited.  The next Eco Club is on 7th October

childrens eco club 2

<div class="box">
<p>xxx</p>
<p>xxx</p>
</div>
Log in to comment