25-Aug-2006
- A record £10 million will be spent on
vital repairs and improvements on Environment
Agency-managed rivers this winter, it was announced
today.
More than 100 projects along
1,000km of waterway across southern and eastern
England will be worked on, with 60 due for completion,
between October and March.
The programme is being funded
by the Department of Environment, Food and Rural
Affairs (Defra), who committed £30 million
to tackling maintenance on Environment Agency-run
rivers for three years from 2005-2007 - a rise
of £5 million per year on previous grants.
Julia Simpson, the Environment
Agency’s Head of Recreation, Navigation and Marine,
said: "The extra funding from Defra has enabled
us to make real headway on dealing with the worst
of the maintenance backlog built up during past
decades of under investment on the rivers.
"Last winter, £9
million was poured in to 127 projects ranging
from electrifying lock gates along the Nene, in
East Anglia, the restoration of Godstow Lock on
the Thames and the installation of hi-visibility
booms upstream of weirs on the Medway in Kent.
"This year we will be building
on those achievements and seeing through another
programme of much-needed refits and repairs. Of
course we still have a long way to go, but we
are starting to make definite progress."
This winter nearly £4.75
million will be spent on the Thames where:
Bray Lock near Maidenhead will
undergo a £700,000 facelift that includes
the addition of wider, safer walkways for boaters
and more accessible canoe portage. Fish are also
set to benefit with new reed beds and habitats
being constructed from recycled wood from recently
felled trees at the lock.
Historic Days Lock, in Little Wittenham, Oxfordshire,
will receive a £500,000 makeover, including
re-facing the lock walls and lowering the lock
chamber exit steps to give boaters safer access.
Clifton Lock, in Abingdon, will have a £300,000
upgrade, including the replacement and extension
of a deteriorating lay-by to provide more mooring
space.
Another £2.8 million will
be spent on Anglian rivers, where the highlights
include a £500,000 major overhaul of Hermitage
Lock on the Great Ouse.
Two other schemes in the region
will form part of the Environment Agency’s preparations
to host the 2007 Inland Waterways Association
Festival at St Ives.
Around £500,000 will be
invested in new visitor moorings and raising the
bridge at Tichmarsh on the Nene and a further
£200,000 will be spent on replacement landing
stages on at least two sites along the Great Ouse.
A number of key improvements
will also be carried out along the Medway, including:
The powering of gates at the
tidal end of Allington Lock, near Maidstone (£150,000)
The replacement of landing stages at up to five
sites including Sluice Weir Lock, near East Peckham
and Hampstead Lock, near Yalding (£200,000)
The replacement of rotten lock gate timbers at
Porters Lock, downstream from Tonbridge, and Oak
Weir Lock, near East Peckham (£100,000)
The Environment Agency carries out most major
maintenance over the winter to limit the inconvenience
to river users and informs registered boaters
of the schedule of lock closures required to allow
the works to go ahead.
We also advise anyone planning
a trip on the rivers this winter to visit our
website or call our National Customer Contact
Centre on 08708 506 506 to check their route is
clear.
Head Office Press Office
