Tim
Abbott - 29-Jan-2008 - The Environment Agency
will explain its plans for a new flood alleviation
scheme for Marlow at an open meeting on
4 February 2008 between 4 – 8pm, at the
Marlow Town Council Offices on Pound Lane,
Marlow.
The £1.9m scheme
will reduce flood risk to 172 homes in Gossmore
Lane, Gossmore Close and Firview Close,
Marlow. The neighbourhood has suffered extensively
from flooding in the past, due to flooding
from the Thames and the high water table.
The Environment Agency’s
scheme will tackle river flooding of houses
and gardens and allow the water table to
be lowered locally during times of high
flood risk, as well as creating a new area
for compensatory flood storage.
Stephen Hunter, Environment
Agency asset system management technical
specialist said: “This exhibition will give
the residents of the Gossmore Lane area
the chance to come along and ask any questions
they might have about our proposed scheme
and how we plan to manage the area’s flooding
problems.
“At present, homes in
the area have about a ten per cent annual
chance of flooding. Our scheme – which has
been designed in conjunction with engineering
consultants Halcrow – is anticipated to
protect the area against one in 100 year
flooding events, or a one per cent annual
chance of flooding.”
The Environment Agency
hopes to submit a planning application to
Wycombe District Council for the scheme
by Summer 2008 and subject to gaining all
relevant approvals and funding, construction
will begin in 2009 -10. In addition, a planning
application for a sister project to protect
properties in the Pound Lane area of Marlow
will be submitted in Spring 2008
Notes for editors
Media and photographers
are welcome to attend this event from 3.45pm
onwards, on Monday 4 February 2008 in the
Marlow Town Council Offices, General Higginson
Room, Court Garden, Pound Lane, Marlow,
SL7 2AE between 4 – 8pm. Stephen Hunter,
Environment Agency asset system management
technical specialist and key members of
the project team will be available for interview.
All media enquiries: 0118 953 5555
+ More
Environment Agency brings
road show to Ingram Memorial
Rita Penman- 29-Jan-2008
- The Environment Agency is bringing a road
show to Boston next Wednesday to tell residents
about the new lock being built in the town.
Environment Agency staff
will be setting up a stand at the Ingram
Memorial, just off the Market Place, where
visitors can learn about this multi-million
pound project which, it is hoped, will encourage
navigation and bring economic regeneration
to Boston.
The new lock will be situated at Black Sluice
pumping station on London Road, where the
South Forty Foot Drain meets the Haven.
The lock will mean that boaters and other
river users can get from the Haven into
the South Forty Foot Drain, a waterway that
has not been available to boaters before.
As well as building
the lock, there will also be temporary moorings
for boaters, a new cycle path and a visitor
centre and café at the Black Sluice
site. Work is due to start at Black Sluice
this month (February) and construction of
the lock is expected to cost around £8million.
The lock is being built in partnership with
Lincolnshire County Council, the East Midlands
Development Agency and the European Regional
Development Fund.
The new lock will not
only mean better boating and recreation
facilities for the town of Boston, but is
also the first stage in a waterways regeneration
scheme that covers the whole of Lincolnshire.
The Fens Waterways Link
is the biggest waterway enhancement project
in Europe and, when complete, will open
up 240 km of waterway; 80 km of new waterway
and provide increased access to 160 km.
The Link will connect
the cathedral cities of Lincoln, Peterborough
and Ely, incorporating the market towns
of Boston, Spalding, Crowland and Ramsey.
In association with other waterway regeneration
schemes, the Link will create a new circular
waterway for recreation, tourism and the
environment through the Fens.
Andy Baxendale Northern
Area Manager for the Environment Agency
said:
‘The new lock in Boston
is the beginning of the most exciting waterway
project in the UK for two centuries. We
have been working hard with our project
partners to make the Fens Waterways Link
a reality, and we are delighted that building
work is now beginning.
‘Once complete the lock
will bring many benefits to Boston, including
increased tourism to the town, a renovated
waterfront on the South Forty Foot drain
at Black Sluice, and an attractive visitor
centre and café.
‘We hope that people
will pop down to our stand on Wednesday
to find out about the building project,
and what it will mean for Boston.’
Visitors to the exhibition
can sign up for a free newsletter that comes
out three times a year and will update you
on this and other waterway projects across
Lincolnshire.
ENDS
Notes for editors
After Wednesday 6 February, this mobile
exhibition will move to the site offices
by Black Sluice on London Road for the duration
of the building work, and members of the
public are welcome to come and have a look
at the artist’s impressions of how the finished
site will look, or take away an information
leaflet.
Artist’s impressions of the new lock, and
of the visitor centre and café, are
available in hi-res if required.
