15/04/2005 - The Environment
Agency is organising a series of surgeries
in April which will give people the opportunity
to discuss our flood-risk management strategy
for the River Soar.
On 22 March 2005 we issued a draft flood-risk
management strategy for the Soar which includes
several options to reduce the impact of flooding
from the river and its tributaries. Options
considered include doing nothing, improving
the existing flood warning system and promoting
land-use change.
The opinions of people living in the area
are important to the drafting of the report
and we are organising the surgeries to give
people the opportunity to comment on the suggested
options.
The Soar has suffered serious floods in 1932
and 1954. Although a number of flood management
schemes were built after these floods, there
are still large areas of the Soar’s floodplain
at risk from flooding .
Over the past few years, our consultants
have developed a strategy for the Soar and
the area surrounding it. This strategy considers
flood-relief options which we have modelled
and tested using specially designed computer
programs.
The draft strategy sets out a sustainable
approach to managing floods over the next
50 years for approximately 75km of the Soar
and its tributaries such as the Sence, Thurlaston
Brook and River Wreake.
The surgeries will be held on:
16 April 2005 from 10am-4pm. in the Sainsburys
car park, Belgrave Rd, Leicester.
18 April 2005 from 5pm - 8pm. Huncote Primary
School, Huncote, Leicestershire.
19 April 2005 from 5pm - 8pm Round Table
Room, John Storer House, Wards End, Loughborough
20 April 2005 from 5pm - 8pm St Peters Church
Hall, Glenfield, Leicestershire.
The draft strategy can be seen at our Trentside
office, Scarrington Road, West Bridgford,
Nottingham, at Nottingham County Council’s
County Hall and public libraries in South
Wigston, Huncote, Glenfield, Loughborough
and Melton Mowbray.
The document can also be seen on the internet
at http:/kbrgis.halliburton.com/ea. Anybody
who can not view the document at any of these
locations can request a copy by contacting
Tim Ive, Environment Agency, 10 Warwick Road,
Olton, Solihull, B92 7HX.
Speaking about the document and the surgeries,
Tim Ive, our manager for the project says:
"The draft document represents the end
of the first stage of the work to reduce flooding’s
impact in Leicestershire.
‘Local views and comments are very useful
to us as they provide us with specific, localised
information and perspectives. The surgeries
will be an opportunity for people let us know
what they think about the various options
in the strategy.
‘The consultation period ends on the 13 May
2005 and all responses will be considered
during the final drafting process. Once published,
the strategy will be the basis on which we
will develop our future flood risk management
strategy for the Soar and its tributaries.’
