On Friday last week the Environment Agency hosted a visit by Jeremy Hunt, MP for South West Surrey, and other partners on the Lammas Lands in Godalming where they have now started constructing the new Godalming Flood Alleviation Scheme.
Godalming has a history of flooding with four notable events in recent years. During the most recent event in 2013 residents will remember that Meadrow and Catteshall Road areas were flooded severely restricting access from Meadrow to Godalming. The risk of this occurring in the future will be reduced for at least 90 properties once the scheme is completed.
The estimated £4.5 million scheme has been developed as a partnership project between the Environment Agency, Surrey County Council, Waverley Borough Council, Godalming Town Council, Thames Water, Scottish and Southern Electricity and the local Godalming Flood Group supported by Jeremy Hunt MP.
Mr Hunt was joined on site by representatives from the partners in the project. They were shown around the construction site by local Environment Agency staff and their contractor, Team Van Oord. This current work is the first of three phases of construction. On Friday the visitors were able to see that phase one has begun to install a 525 metres long sheet pile wall along the bank of Hell Ditch. This will be timber clad when completed. This part of the construction is expected to be finished during this winter, weather permitting.
Phase two will begin at Catteshall Road Bridge in spring 2019 where the Environment Agency will be constructing a pumping station and installing a demountable flood barrier. The final part of the work will involve reinstating the Lammas Lands, allotments and gardens. The whole scheme is scheduled to be completed by summer 2019.
Maria Herlihy, Operations Manager for the Environment Agency, said “We are delighted to host this visit to show that this scheme has now begun to help reduce flood risk for the residents in the area. We welcome the opportunity to show Mr Hunt, local councillors and those involved in the partnership that the work is now well and truly underway.”
Jeremy Hunt MP commented “The start of works on this scheme are the culmination of several years’ planning and hard work by many local organisations and people. Now we finally know the work is going ahead we can all breathe a huge sigh of relief. Thank you everyone who has supported us and made this possible – it was a huge team effort”.
ENDS
NOTES TO EDITORS:
The picture attached shows those attending the site visit on Friday 9 November 2018. Jeremy Hunt MP is on the digger. The group includes the Environment Agency project team and members of the partnership who have supported the project
- We work in partnership to get the best value for money from government funding. Partnership funding helps schemes to go ahead, reducing the risk of flooding for homes and businesses.
- From 2015 to 2021, we are investing £2.6 billion in flood and coastal erosion risk management projects
- From 2015 to 2021 we will reduce the risk of flooding from rivers, the sea, groundwater and surface water and from coastal erosion for at least 300,000 homes.
- Between 2015 and 2021 we are investing in over 1,500 flood and coastal schemes.
- Projects will include, for example, constructing tidal barriers, building flood defences, replacing culverts and natural flood management measures.
Be prepared – Check your flood risk at https://www.gov.uk/check-flood-risk or call Floodline on 0345 988 1188 (24/7 service) to find out if your property is at risk of flooding. If it is at risk, sign up for our free Floodline Warnings Service and start preparing for when a flood happens.