Waste not want not as the saying goes, and what better use of of old material can you find than creating a new public space and leisure destination?

Northala Fields lies alongside the busy A40 in west London, with its three conical mounds clearly visible. They were constructed using material from the new Wembley development.

Excavated material from other London development projects have also been used to create new landscapes further afield. Soil dug from deep below the streets during the construction of Crossrail was shipped down the Thames on special barges to create the giant Wallasea Island nature reserve in Essex.

In the Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park material from the ground was relocated to the roofs of some of the residential blocks during construction, creating perfect habitat for rare Black Redstart birds. The surrounding park landscape provides plenty of food for them when nesting safely on the rubbly roofs.

With more development planned to provide much needed housing in London, there's lots of scope for new parks or for re-landscaping exiting ones to improve them for nature.