Village flood defences move one step closer (From Worcester News)

Village flood defences move one step closer

8:20am Friday 3rd September 2010 in

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FLOOD defences to protect a village near Worcester are a step closer to becoming a reality.

Plans for a £765,000 scheme to build flood embankments to the north of the A449 and a new flood embankment in fields behind homes in Powick have been submitted to Malvern Hills District Council.

The plans were shown to members of Powick Parish Council on Wednesday evening by the Environment Agency.

As reported in your Worcester News in January last year, the defences are part of a £2.7 million scheme to install defences in Pershore, Uckinghall and Broadway.

At Wednesday’s meeting, Alisha Dexter, from the Environment Agency, told councillors they had submitted the plans and were waiting for the consultation period to end.

“We are looking for it to go ahead and be completed around May next year,” she said. “Work would start in March to do a lot of the clearance work but the majority would be in May.”

The flood elevation scheme involves the creation of two defences near the village – one 180 metres and the other 300 metres. The earth bund will be built up to between one-and-a-half and two metres high.

Parish councillors arranged with the Environment Agency to walk the two sites where the proposed bunds will be built so they can give their feed-back to the district council during the consultation period.

The scheme is being funded through the Regional Flood Defence Committee (RFDC) and includes contributions from Worcestershire County Council Highways and Powick Parish Council.

A spokesman for Malvern Hills District Council said the consultation started at the beginning of the month and a decision would be made before the end of the year.

The application will be available for download from malvernhills.gov.uk in the next few days.