In February, Andy Smith and Dan Harrison from the Drainage Team organised the planter boxes to be installed during half-term at the following four schools: Pilgrim Academy, Oasis Academy Immingham, Western Primary and Wybers Wood Primary.

Planter boxes also known as Roof Irrigation Planters, have pipes connected to them to allow rainwater from the roof to discharge directly into a planter bed, this helps to increase flood resilience by absorbing water and slowing the flow of water down. 

Dan Harrison and Isaac Whitehouse, who is also on the Drainage Team, arrived at Pilgrim Academy last week with the sustainable drainage systems planter team to get the first boxes of fresh plants into the planter boxes with the children. The boxes of plants include shrubs, herbs, succulents and grasses.

Educational boards will be added in due course besides these planters to educate school children and local residents on the purpose and benefit of these planters to make people more aware about sustainable drainage systems features.

Andy Smith, Drainage and Coastal Defence Team Manager, said “It’s great to see these sustainable drainage systems features come to life. The planter boxes provide multiple benefits to the local area, such as reducing pollution, reducing rainwater runoff flow rate and increasing biodiversity by creating new habitat for pollinators such as butterflies and bees. It also provides an educational opportunity for children at the schools to learn more about sustainability.”