Year six pupils at Wheeler Primary School have become the first in the city to be visited by the project team behind Lagoon Hull, with the aim of inspiring the next generation who could be living and working in the city when it is built.
Paul Hatley, project director, led an hour-long workshop with 60 children at the west Hull school, giving them the opportunity to learn more about the scheme’s tidal flood alleviation benefits as part of their recent topic work on flooding – while also letting them share their amazing ideas for the city’s future.
They also learned about the wide-ranging other benefits of the transformational project including how it will unlock waterside land for business development, provide 19,000 new jobs to boost the regional economy and alleviate traffic congestion on the A63 and throughout the city centre.
Commenting, Paul Hatley said: “Hull’s young people are important stakeholders in Lagoon Hull because they are the ones who will help to shape it, build it, live around it, commute along it and share in its economic benefits.
“The children at Wheeler Primary School were incredibly engaged in listening to our ideas for how their city will look in the years to come and it was great to listen to their thoughts on what they would like to see integrated into the final design.
“As we have always said, we want the people of Hull to have a say in the shape the project takes. Lagoon Hull must work for everyone and deliver a futureproof city where people love to live and can’t wait to visit.”
Joseph Kemp, year six teacher at Wheeler Primary School, said: “We put a great emphasis in our geography curriculum into the study of the local area and also the socioeconomic impacts that geographical change can have. Our children are taught to be curious, analytical thinkers who are well-prepared for our ever-changing world.
“In year six, our current study focus has been on the impact of natural disasters across the world and in our locality. We have studied historical flooding events, including pluvial and fluvial flooding, and their impacts on society. As part of their studies, the children developed their fieldwork skills by visiting various defences in Hull and the East Riding: the tidal surge barrier, the flood wall along the Humber and Tranby lagoon.
“We also wanted to allow the children to investigate the future of Hull’s flood defences, which is why we reached out to the team at Lagoon Hull to provide our children with an insight into future developments.”
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