CONSTRUCTION of the first phase of a new £23 million Warrington Flood Risk Management Scheme is set to begin within weeks following nearly three months of preparation works.
Once the new defences are in place, they will reduce the risk of flooding to over 2,000 homes and businesses from the River Mersey and its tributaries.
Contractors have been on site in Victoria Park in Latchford since the beginning of August preparing the area before work begins.
The scheme has been made possible thanks to a partnership between the Environment Agency and Warrington Borough Council, who are jointly funding the new flood defences.
Chris Stone from the Environment Agency, who is project managing the construction of the scheme, said: “The Environment Agency continually monitors flood risk and identified that thousands of homes and businesses are at risk of flooding from the River Mersey in Warrington.
“We prioritise our funding so that we protect as many people and properties as possible, but even with the support of government funding, this scheme would not have gone ahead without the support and funding provided by Warrington Borough Council, and the support of the local community.
“Preliminary works are almost complete in Victoria Park and along Knutsford Road, meaning building work will begin shortly in Latchford. We expect this phase of construction to be complete in May 2013, after which we will move on to the next phases of construction in Howley, Padgate, Woolston, Cinnamon Brow and Westy.
“Warrington has been on the cusp of major flooding several times, and the weather we have experienced this summer highlights how essential this scheme will be.”
Cllr Linda Dirir, (pictured) executive board member for environment at the council, added: “Protecting Warrington homes and businesses from the threat of flooding is very important to us, now more than ever following the scenes here and elsewhere of late. We have been fighting to get this investment for many years now and, though no flood defence system can ever eliminate all risk of flooding, we believe this scheme will reduce it significantly which is very good news.”
Traffic Management and pedestrian access to Victoria Park
Traffic management measures have been put in place along Knutsford Road to provide space to build the flood defences and create a safe working area. Unfortunately these restrict traffic coming out of town to a single lane and mean that the pedestrian crossing and bus stops between Bridgefoot and Weir Lane have been closed. The Environment Agency is working with Warrington Borough Council to create an alternative safe crossing zone and final approval for a temporary pedestrian crossing close to the Weir Lane entrance is expected next week. The temporary crossing will remain in place for the duration of the construction works. Following which a new permanent crossing will be installed.
Access to Victoria Park from Black Bear path will be maintained for the majority of the construction period except for a short period when flood defences are constructed across the line of Black Bear path. Diversions are in place within the park to get to the children’s play area and skate park and locals are urged to take extra care when entering the park via Weir Lane, which is shared with vehicles.
Talks are ongoing to run a temporary free bus service to mitigate the loss of the bus stops coming out of Warrington. Details have yet to be finalised, but a potential solution would see a mini bus doing a circuit between Latchford and Warrington town centre every half hour between 8:30am and 5:30pm. The bus would go into Warrington along Knutsford Road but on the way back out to Latchford would do pick-ups around the housing estate.
A large number of trees had to be cut down in Victoria Park and along Knutsford Road, which was unfortunate but essential to enable the construction of the new defences. To help mitigate the impact this will have on the environment, extensive tree planting will take place in Victoria Park once construction is complete, and an arboretum (a collection of fine, specimen trees) will be created. In the meantime, a number of bat boxes and habitat piles have been created to provide homes for local wildlife.
A major feature of the scheme will be a new entrance into Victoria Park that will create an attractive and welcoming space. The design team have also been working hard to ensure the flood walls are as attractive as possible, and they will feature artwork by local schoolchildren from St James’ CofE Primary School in Latchford.
Mr Stone said: “The welfare of the environment is at the heart of everything we do at the Environment Agency, so it was a real struggle for us to balance the loss of trees with the need to reduce flood risk to over 2,000 local people. We are confident that the benefits the flood risk management scheme will provide, and the fact that we are going to replant more trees than we remove, will make up for the loss in the long run.”
Phases two and three of the flood risk management scheme will be constructed in Howley, Padgate, Woolston and Cinnamon Brow with plans also being drawn up for new flood defences in Westy. Phase one is expected to be completed in May 2013, with the flood risk management scheme as a whole due to be completed in 2015.
People can find out more about the future plans of the scheme, and have their say, by attending a community drop in session at St Elphins Church Hall in Howley on Thursday 7th November between 4pm and 8pm.
If you would like to comment on our plans for managing flood risk from the River Mersey, please email the Environment Agency at [email protected] or call Chris Stone on 01925 542419. You can also follow the Environment Agency on Twitter @EnvAgencyNW.
Even with new flood defences in place, you can never entirely remove the risk of flooding. It is important that you prepare for this by phoning our Floodline on 0845 988 1188, to find out if you can sign up for free flood warnings. You can also get information on developing a flood plan, putting together a flood kit and other ways of preparing for flooding by visiting our website: www.environment-agency.gov.uk/flood
Top picture shows an artists impression of the finished works
9 Comments
As Garyās report illustrates the work on Knutsford road and Victoria Park is now underway and designed to mitigate the impact of a 1 in 100 year flood.
It gave me no satisfaction to discover that the Flood Protection plans would mean that almost all trees along the park side of Knutsford road and Victoria Park would have to be felled when I attended the various public consultations over the past two years. But the defence walls, steel plate foundations and earth mounds are being put in place to protect over 2,000 properties.
I remember as Chairman of Warrington Athletic Club and race organiser of the Chris Vose road race that I was faced with cancelling the event one year and turning away over 1,000 competitors because of severe flooding in Victoria park. Fortunately the water receded enough for the race to go ahead, however a couple of years later came the 1991 flood that went beyond the park and across Knustford road. This this was a major warning to everyone.
As Warrington Borough Councilās Climate Change Champion I attend monthly board meetings where I have learnt a great deal about its impact and how hard council officers are working to mitigate the impact of Global Change on Warringtonās. With rising sea levels doing nothing is not an option.
The Environmental Agency have been analysing and monitoring the situation for many years and have been forced to draw up plans to protect the 2,000 local residents. In addition they have identified other areas in the flood plain and beyond that will be protected in future phases like around Cardinal Newman High School and Cinnamon Brow.
The EA leafleted all houses in the area opposite Victoria Park inviting residents to a series of meetings at their head office, on Knutsford road and St Hildaās Mission Church. There were presentations, plans and question and answer sessions. I attended with concerned members of Warrington Nature Conservation Forum and lobbied along with Cllr Maureen McLaughlin and local residents who worked throughout to try and reduced the number of trees to be felled and challenge designs.
These meetings were informative and the Environmental Agency took on board a large number of concerns and they went away and incorporated into the changes into their design and plans. These included changes to the wall design, park entrance and construction methods along the river bank to save a number of trees and offer better protection for local wildlife. Unfortunately at the end of the day for technical and construction reasons a large number of trees have had to be sacrificed in order for the appropriate Environmental Agency defence protection system is put in place. The EA have promised, as the article states, to mitigate the situation by putting back as many trees like for like and hopefully of a similar or more appropriate species.
The area does look like a hurricane has swept down Knutsford road but if this work isnāt completed in time we could be facing one where 2,000 family homes are flooded, we have to manage this risk and prevent and emergency situation.
As a member of the Mersey Forest Steering Group I have also asked the Mersey Forest Director to consider planting some stock in and around the park as part of the Green Infrastructure programme. He told us at a recent meeting that Warrington has one of the highest levels of Green Canopy for a Town in the North West second only to Liverpool and I want to see this increased.
Its ironic that tree canopies delay/attenuate water, deforestation along with land drainage and channelization are major contributors to flooding further down stream. I find it hypocrytical therefore that the EA has removed a vast swath of lovely mature trees, shows their priorities and what value they placed on the mature trees, not alot. I understand the need to save homes, but dont we have a very large SHIP CANAL which should be used as an emergency flood channel, its pretty deep, but that would mean upsetting some very large landowners in the area possibly/maybe not?
Steve There is the ‘Bunker’ a huge storm drain located in the Southern area of Warrington, taking overflow water from various rivers and carrying it underground to the outfall at the Manchester Ship Canal. Built in the 80’s the system spans a length of around 3 miles, but I’m sure that I heard even it would not be able to cope. Yes the Ship Canal is used to take excess water away but it has it’s limits.It does however look spectacular from the photos on the web.
There has been no reasons yet put forward as to why the lovely mature trees along Knutsford Road have had to go. It’s all a matter of priorities and certainly both EA and WBC do not have residents concerns at heart. They always know best!!!
The reasons are given in the the plans – for example the trees are often where the sheet piling needs to go to support the banks of the river Mersey and flood walls. Hopefully the trees to replace the felled hornbeams could new fastigiate hornbeam along with species like the common alder, turkish hazel, ash and lime.
Yes but why has W.B.C. contributed vast sums of council money to cut and replant these trees at a time of service cuts. Sounds like these top council officers who gave the go ahead are in the pocket of the Environment Agency. Or could it be that when they go they will get a job there.
if this is all designed to prevent a once in 100 years event, surely the decimation of vast swathes of mature trees is not a price worth paying. After all, even when you look at what happened in Cumbria and even in Cornwall before that, he likes a few years just a few short months afterwards, most of the places were bone dry and businesses were back up and running. That is what we pay insurance for surely; to cover us for events like this. If this project couldn’t go ahead without all of the trees being “culled” it should either have not gone ahead or other less drastic options should have been explored surely?
I drove past there yesterday and was shocked too see just how many trees had been felled. It was quite sad to see all the huge thick tree trunks piled up all along the roadside awaiting disposal………… Maybe someone could make large carved sculptures from some of them and they could be used as features along the length of the works or around victoria Park as part of the new plans and settings. At least they would still be there in some way. They have some tree carvings like that at Walton Gardens and they add a nice ‘natural’ touch.
A nice carving of Geoff Settle perhaps, parents could use it as a way to scare their kids into behaving themselves. š