North Lincolnshire Council has been working closely with The Friends of the Beck to regenerate the Bottesford Beck area and with the help of a new ‘amphibious’ machine the area will be improved even more.
The TRUXOR machine has been brought in by Ebsford Environmental, the contractor that is carrying out the improvement works along Bottesford Beck, to help with the regeneration project.
This ‘amphibious’ machine can work both on land and on water. It can carry out de-weeding on land and desilting and dredging works in the beck that is non-invasive.
It is going to be used to desilt the downstream end of the Beck where there is heavy silt levels possibly inflowing from the River Trent. The full length of the Beck will also be de-weeded. It is expected these works will start in August.
In February The Friends of The Beck received a £76,000 grant for ‘Paths for Communities’ from Natural England. This was used to improve the path along Bottesford Beck; it was also used to create a car park, footbridge and boardwalk through to Ashbyville Local Nature Reserve. The new path is part of the new Ironstone Way.
This grant not only improved existing footpaths but will create new ones. Access for all from the outskirts of Scunthorpe and the new residential area will be provided into more rural parts of North Lincolnshire.
This community-led project has the support of the Environment Agency and the Local Access Forum.
Cllr Neil Poole, cabinet member for policy and resources , said:
“Bringing in the TRUXOR machine to help with this project is extremely advantageous for us as it rules out the need for a large machine running alongside the beck and damaging the banks – more specifically not damaging the newly constructed path.
“We have recently given the machine a trial run and it was a huge success. This will be used to carry out the main body of the desilting works. It will greatly improve the flow of the Beck and overall the look of the area.”
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Press Release, July 15, 2014