Ecology & Social Conscience
A word about our social conscience and ecology working with our partner and principle contractor O’Brien Contractors Ltd!
From the planning stage we engaged with Natural England and renowned ecologists, ‘RammSanderson’. Our aim was to create a sustainable community rugby club complex, in an ecologically sensitive way. A club that was warm, welcoming and engaging to encourage people from all walks of life to join us, embrace in healthy activities and have fun.
Our choice of O’Brien Contractors Ltd reflect this aim. They have performed responsibly and professionally and maintained a strong, honest, connection with us and our neighbours in Water Orton. They have sponsored the delivery of rugby to the local primary schools and assisting Water Orton Library, donating £2000 to these two local causes. The recent drought challenged us to keep our new pitches alive ecologically, many fearing a hosepipe ban and O’Brien’s cleverly used the newly created attenuation (rainwater) pond and existing pond (cleared by ecologists prior to HS2 back filling) to irrigate the grass. The irrigation water and rainfall, minus evaporation, drains back into the attenuation pond.
The current activity is landscaping, this is taking shape now and the native plants and trees are all looking great. We are planting over a hundred native trees which includes 15 oak tree saplings. The mature oak that stands proudly alongside our new clubhouse is a monument to the efforts that we have made to protect and enhance the existing trees and hedgerows. This 500 years old giant has been trimmed and nurtured to enhance both its appearance and its health. O’Briens engaged two Arborists in consultation to ensure that this wonderful tree had the best chance to grow for another hundred years or more! The hedgerow work is to thicken and extend them where they have been thinned over the years by walkers creating access gaps and natural lifespans of the bushes, plus to replace those sections that Highways instructed us to clear for road safety.
Here’s a snippet from their website and the link below to the full web presentation of our new club.
Keeping it Local and Recycling
To date we have brought to site over five thousand tonnes of recycled material avoiding the use of primary aggregates and recycled material has been sourced locally to reduce transport distance and impact on road users and the environment. Materials were used to create the access road onto site, as the first operation to provide access for construction works and avoid carrying debris onto the surrounding roads.
We are providing local staff resources for this project, achieving reduced travel times to site, meaning a decrease in travel time for staff, contributing towards reducing our emissions.