Old Victoria Ground (Stoke City), Stoke-On-Trent

JKSL’s work on the old Stoke City Football ground began in 2017, when we carried out removal of Japanese knotweed to facilitate Phase 1 of the development.

As part of the second phase of works, a large river diversion scheme was planned to be carried out. A new 500-metre river channel was excavated to improve the habitat capability for species in the area such as Brown Trout, Kingfishers and Otters. The scheme was designed to turn old brownfield site into a haven for wildlife to thrive and improve local amenities and provide green space for residents.

JKSL returned to site in September 2021 to carry out Phase 2 works. JKSL excavated the remaining Japanese knotweed along the old River Trent channel. This was part of a wider scheme to re-naturalize the river by bypassing two weirs. The old river channel (once containing Japanese knotweed) is to be backfilled to enable future development.

With limited space within the development boundary, options for waste management areas or burial on site were deemed unviable and excavation to landfill was considered to be the most appropriate methodology.

All works were undertaken with a two-week period by our site teams to ensure that the land was ready for the river diversion ahead of development works.

The development was featured on an episode of Countryfile which aired on the 22^nd September 2020. A link to the show can be found here: https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m000mn4j.

More details on the river diversion project can be found here: https://www.staffs-wildlife.org.uk/news/historic-moment-river-trent-changes-course-following-major-conservation-scheme-former-stoke.