Geoscience Reference
In-Depth Information
River Cole
for the River Skerne and 36 for the River Cole.
In 2008 a postal questionnaire survey was used.
The River Skerne survey received 123 responses (a
35% response rate); the River Cole survey received
20 responses - a 42% response rate, representing
a substantial proportion of all the households in
Coleshill village.
The questionnaire used a combination of
tick-box questions and open-ended questions.
The content was designed to be relevant both
to the research and the respondents, giving
those involved a good opportunity to respond
to the questions (Parfitt, 2005). In addition to
assessing the perceived value of the rehabilitated
river, the aim was to analyse views after scheme
implementation and to investigate how and if
perceptions and expectations had changed over
time. Data collected included general demographic
information, the frequency and purpose of
visits and a comparison of the rivers and their
surroundings before and after rehabilitation. Visit
frequency, attractiveness, wildlife, recreation,
safety, flooding, public consultation and overall
satisfaction were used to gauge perception. In
addition, qualitative in-depth interviews were held
with river rehabilitation professionals involved
with the two schemes to establish their views on
the success of the two projects.
Rehabilitation of the rural River Cole involved a
2.5 km long reach with approximately 0.5 km
2
of
floodplain near the village of Coleshill in southern
England. The River Cole has a long history of
modifications associated with woollen milling in
Coleshill, and more recently, land drainage. The
earliest record of a mill in Coleshill dates from
the Domesday Book (1086). By the early 1800s
the river upstream of the mill had been filled in
and replaced by an artificial mill leat. During a
major land drainage scheme in the 1970s, the river
downstream of the mill was deepened by about 1m
(River Restoration Project, 1995a).
Rehabilitation work began in July 1995 and was
divided into two parts, upstream and downstream
of the mill at Coleshill. Above the mill a new
shallow river channel was excavated alongside the
mill leat, in approximately the same location as
the pre-1800 river course, which diverted some of
the flow from the mill leat. The shallow nature
of the new channel was designed to reconnect
the river with its adjacent floodplain, which is
grazed by cattle. Downstream from the mill,
the river bed was raised and the straightened
channel re-meandered. The river banks were also
protected from cattle grazing by fencing. Figure
20.3 shows photographs from the upstream and the
downstream rehabilitated reaches.
Results
Methods
The results showed a clear difference in attitudes
towards the projects on the River Skerne and
Cole (Figure 20.4). Respondents at the urban
River Skerne overall were very positive, while
views on the rural River Cole rehabilitation
were decidedly mixed. The perception ratings of
the River Skerne rehabilitation project regarding
attractiveness, wildlife, recreation, safety and
overall satisfaction were all higher in 2008 than in
1997. Conversely, several aspects about the River
Cole project were rated lower in the 2008 survey
than 1997.
Perception about the attractiveness of the Skerne
rose markedly between 1997 and 2008, while
for the River Cole, opinion remained equally
divided about the river becoming more and less
The public perception research involved
quantitative and qualitative social science research
methods. Post-project surveys were carried out
in 1997, 1 year after rehabilitation (Tapsell
et al.
, 1997) and again in 2008 ( Aberg, 2010).
The sampling and questionnaire design were
similar for the two surveys, but the survey
technique differed somewhat. For the River
Skerne, households within 500 m of the river
rehabilitation were randomly sampled, while at
the River Cole all households in Coleshill village
were visited. In 1997, a structured interview was
used, with participants answering questions from
an interviewer. In total, there were 260 responses
