We had a really successful drop-in event at the Hancock Great North Museum last week. 88 people representing over 50 organisations and community groups came to meet with us and suggest projects for the Tyne Catchment Plan.
It was a really successful 3 days, and well worth the time and work it took to prepare. The Environment Agency kindly provided a display about the current status of our Tyne rivers according to the Water Framework Directive, the European legislation which is driving the catchment pilot projects (like this one) throughout England. There was plenty of reading material and information available, with an emphasis on the 3 key themes for the Tyne Catchment Plan: community engagement and awareness raising, land and river habitat management, and climate change.
Our big catchment map showed all the work currently going on across the Tyne catchment, but the biggest success was our ‘Projects Wall’ where more than 80 projects were proposed for inclusion in the Tyne Catchment Plan.
Many thanks to everyone who helped make it a success – my Tyne Rivers Trust colleagues, the Hancock Museum staff, the Environment Agency and Newcastle University. And last but most definitely not least, thank you to all the people who gave up their time to come along and participate.
Susan Mackirdy, Project Manager