Water Railway Park and Park ‘t Loo provide water storage in municipality of Leidschendam-Voorburg
In collaboration with the Delfland district water control board, the municipality of Leidschendam-Voorburg has developed the Waterspoorpark [Water Railway Park]. The departure of the allotment gardeners had left the park as an unappealing strip of land between Park ’t Loo in Voorburg and the The Hague-Amsterdam railway.
In Park ’t Loo in Voorburg there is also some soil turned. Between them, the Water Railway Park and Park ’t Loo will provide storage capacity for fifteen million litres of water. These two (re)developments will enhance the quality of the living environment and reduce the risk of waterlogging in the Veenpolder and Binkhorstpolder. The Park joins the water tasking with other taskings such as nature perception, exercise (fitness site), and historical accents.
Results
The new Water Railway Park along the Nicolaas Beetslaan will provide the district water board with an additional storage capacity of some 6.3 million litres of water. In addition, it offers recreational opportunities for local residents. For example, they can stroll through the park, take their dogs for a walk, or kick a ball about in the football cage. Furthermore, the excavated soil from the pool and the ditches has been used to build an observation hill.
Photos: left the old situation, right the new situation in the Water Railway Park
Soil is also turned in the neighbouring Park ‘t Loo. In the park section between the Bruijnings Ingenhoeslaan and the Mgr. van Steelaan, the pond will be excavated to accommodate small inflatable boats or canoes. The overall storage capacity of fifteen million litres provided by the Water Railway Park and Park ‘t Loo will prevent waterlogging. A map of the situation in these two parks is available under Downloads.
Lessons to be learnt
These types of projects garner wide support among local residents. A thorough evaluation will yield ample space in existing green structures for the combination of functions and water storage. Dog owners tend to be less favourably disposed towards the reduction of lawns (off-leash areas) in favour of water (collection).
Contacts
Simon van Damme
Municipality of Leidschendam-Voorburg
070 - 300 90 89
Scl.van.damme@lv.nl
Harry van den Broek
Delfland district water control board
015 - 260 81 23
hvandenbroek@hhdelfland.nl