Enhanced flood mitigation project opens

Nicholas Pearson Associates, Landscape Architects,  has played a key role in the recently opened Haydon Wick Flood Alleviation Scheme in Swindon, following a 15 month construction period. The £6.6m scheme provides flood protection to 118 homes and businesses after a history of flood events, with a major incident in 2007.

Working alongside the Environment Agency, Royal HaskoningDHV and Galliford Try, we have been involved from the early stages of the project right through to the completion.  In addition, we will continue to have a role for the next two years inspecting the management and maintenance of the soft landscape works.

The site is located within a very constrained urban corridor and required careful planning to build more than 2.5 miles (4km) of flood walls and embankments along both sides of the brook. In many cases construction access was required through residential property requiring extensive garden reinstatement.

New planting includes more than 200 trees, over 4000 of a variety of native shrubs, in excess of 3500 herbaceous plants to screen the inner side of the flood wall, and over 7500 wetland and marginal herbaceous plants.  These replace the removed trees and vegetation and also provide new planting to enhance the landscape and to benefit wildlife. Two new wildlife ponds have been created, bat boxes erected and artificial kingfisher nest sites built.

Our key inputs have included:

  • Identifying landscape and environmental constraints and opportunities;
  • Assisting in development of design options and preparing the Landscape Proposals Plan;
  • Preparing public consultation material;
  • Preparation of the Landscape section for Environmental Statement, and the supporting landscape plans;
  • Preparation of the Design and Access Statement;
  • Preparation of photomontages for both public consultation, planning application and to assist in the design process;
  • Overseeing advance vegetation removal to allow for construction access;
  • Advising on alternative surface finishes for flood defence walls;
  • Preparation of detailed soft landscape construction details, specification, schedules and planting plans;
  • Assisting in the implementation period, inspecting the landscape and environmental works and helping to resolve evolving design issues and valuations;
  • Inspection of residents’ gardens prior to construction access, and overseeing reinstatement;
  • Preparation of landscape management plan;
  • Ongoing inspection role during 2 year maintenance period.

The scheme was reported on by the BBC: see bbc.co.uk

For further information from the Environment Agency see environment-agency.gov.uk

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