Extra funding approved for key flood defences in Somerset
Nearly £1million has been approved.
Essential improvements to one of Somerset’s key flood defences can continue over the summer after nearly £1m of funding was signed off.
The Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA) has been working with the Environment Agency (EA) to make numerous improvements to the River Sowy and King’s Sedgemoor Drain (KSD), which divert water from the River Parrett and the River Cary out into the Bristol Channel.
Numerous improvements have been carried out over the last two years, removing silt from the river banks and bridges to increase capacity and thereby ensure water can flow off the moors more quickly.
The SRA board has been working since January to allow three outstanding elements of the current improvement programme (dubbed ‘phase one’) to both be completed before the end of the current calendar year.
With two of these elements now either completed or under way, the board voted in Bridgwater on Friday (June 6) to provide £915,000 to complete bank raising work, which should be completed before the end of the summer.
Two of the outstanding ‘phase one’ elements concern improvements to the Chedzoy tilting weir and the Back Ditch outfall, which both lie between Bridgwater and the Polden Hills.
Both structures are maintained by the Parrett Internal Drainage Board (IDB) and are located on land owned by SRA vice-chairman Tony Bradford.
Around £150,000 was earmarked for these improvements, which will reduce the amount of agricultural land affected by flooding in this section of the Somerset Levels and Moors, and thereby reduce the amount of lost income for local farmers.
The SRA board voted in March to allocate £250,000 to deliver these two elements, with work commencing on April 28.
The SRA confirmed following its most recent board meeting that the work on Back Ditch has now been completed, while improvements to the Chedzoy tilting wear are “under way and progressing well”.
To this end, the footpath between Bradney Lane in Bawdrip and Ward Lane in Chedzoy (which forms part of National Cycle Network route 3) has been closed to pedestrians and cyclists since May 13 – and is expected to reopen by the end of July.
The remaining ‘phase one’ elements concern just over a mile (1.8 kilometres) of bank raising work near Chedzoy and Westonzoyland, providing further flood protection and increasing the overall capacity of the river.
The EA originally intended for work at Chedzoy and Back Drain to begin in September 2023, but postponed this to mid-January 2024 – only to find it was unable to access the sites.
Caroline Murray from the Somerset Drainage Boards Consortium (SDBC) told the SRA board on Friday (June 6) that the bank raising would be carried out to EA specification, but with the Parrett Internal Drainage Board as the delivery partner.
She said in her written report: “Based on our investigations, the existing bund and bank materials are considered suitable for reuse to complete this phase of the enhancement scheme.
“It is likely that some material may require some drying out to achieve adequate compaction and settlement.
“The IDB is now in a position to award a contract to complete the works this summer, should the allocation of funding be approved.
“We can provide the board with the assurance that the project is deliverable within the budget set aside and that the Parrett IDB is in a position to be delivery partner for the works.”
SDBC chairman Iain Sturdy indicated that the appointed contractor would take around a fortnight to mobilise, with the entire project expected to take 12 weeks to complete.
Parrett IDB vice-chair Rebecca Horsington added: “I’m really chuffed this piece of work is going to finally get done, because I do think it’s really important.”