Flood prevention schemes – Lowdham Parish Council

Update: October 2024

Dear Lowdham residents & wider community,

Following the feedback from our previous update outlining the delay of the construction programme, we wish to provide further details and clarification on a number of the factors which have caused the delay, to help your understanding.

Asbestos soil disposal. The original ground investigations identified one potential asbestos-contaminated site. However, new and previously unknown finds of asbestos on 2 other sites were identified during the construction phase. These sites must be handled carefully and disposed of correctly. As a result, earthworks in those areas had to be stopped, causing delays to the drainage works and to the infill of the existing Cocker Beck channel. This has now by necessity been rescheduled to the Spring.
Complex clay core. There are very high standards and specification for the low impermeable clay that must be used to ensure the reservoir meets legal requirements to provide the necessary flood risk protection to Lowdham. We have undertaken significant testing to ensure the right clay is sourced to meet the stringent specifications required and, unfortunately, this caused further delay.
Section 278 agreement. The original proposal for the land drainage along Lambley Road had to be redesigned significantly, with the support from our partners, Nottinghamshire County Council. The initial highway design has changed to address land drainage concerns caused when we re-locate a section of The Beck. The full road closure will still be going ahead, but is likely to take less that the original plan of 10 weeks.

Wet weather. Rainfall and wet soil were accounted for in the construction programme, but it was expected that this would be in the winter months (November-March). However, this September saw exceptionally high rainfall totals across the Midlands and the majority of soils are wetter than expected for this time of year. This has unfortunately temporarily halted all earthworks. The construction programme now conservatively estimates that no earthworks will be able to take place between the winter November-March periods. However, should the ground conditions allow, we will undertake earthworks where possible. Therefore, it is possible the completion date could be brought forward. The programme showing a completion of April-June 2027 assumes the worst case that we halt works for 3 winter’s (3 x 5 = 15 months). It may be possible to bring the completion date forward but that will depend on the weather.

Understandably, this letter may not cover all the questions or queries you may have. Therefore, we would like to increase our face-to-face contact with you to allow you to question us directly about any concerns or suggestions you may have. We will be in touch soon to provide you with an invitation to join us in a meeting once we have finalised the details.

Kind Regards,

Lowdham FSR Project Team
Flood and Coastal Risk Management
Environment Agency Trentside Offices, Scarrington Rd, West Bridgford, Nottingham, NG2 5BR
Website Lowdham Information Page
Facebook Lowdham FSR Facebook Page
Incident Hotline: 0800 80 70 60