Burton Flood Risk Management Scheme Information

Overview

Updated 10 January 2020- next update due 3 April 2020

Background

Burton is entwined with the River Trent, its history is fundamentally linked to the river and its growth has depended on it.

Before the defences were built flood events regularly impacted on Burton.

Approximately 9km of defences; walls, embankments and high ground, first built as a result of the 1932 floods, currently protect Burton. Without these defences the town would regularly experience flooding.

In 2000, when the water level was at its highest since 1947, the defences stood firm. The photo below, courtesy of Burton Mail, shows how the water reached up to the flood defences

However these defences are old and need updating and improving to protect the town.

We last improved parts of the defences in 2005-07, known as ‘Phase 1’ of the current programme of works.

We are now working on phase 2, upgrading the rest of the defences, not tackled in 2005-07, and tying into phase 1, so that Burton has a single set of defences at the same level. The current work planned amount to about 3.7km of defence work.

The figure below shows red lines on the locations where we are improving the defences over the coming years.

Our objectives for the Burton Flood Risk Management project are :

• To improve flood defences for over 4,500 homes and 1000 businesses
• To provide additional environmental improvements- work with partners, such as East Staffordshire Borough Council, to help achieve more than just flood defences
• Engage with the town and it’s communities to educate them about the flood risk and the defences - highlighting that the river is at the heart of this community

What we are doing

We are improving the quality of the defences currently already protecting Burton from river flooding.

Part of the current defences are at the end of their life span. If we didn’t improve the defences they may ‘breach’ and cause parts of Burton to flood.

The photo below show erosion to the current embankment at Regatta Lane Allotments, caused by high foot fall.

The scheme will provide Burton with a better level of protection from the River Trent.

The main aim of this scheme is to improve the quality by using better material, such as sheet piling (driving metal plates into the ground) where required or replacing the current embankment with a clay core embankment. The method of construction is dependent on what is currently in place and what space we have to work with.

More detail on what we are doing in your area can be requested by contacting the Public Liaison officer- details provided on the top right hand side of this page.

Project funding

Costs are currently approximately £30 million and the scheme is funded mainly by flood defence grant in aid with some Local Levy funding support.

Timescales

We started construction in June 2019 and expect to complete the work by March 2021.

Construction is now well underway at a number of sites and in some areas work is largely complete.

New defences are largely constructed at Paget High school behind Blackpool Street and Lansdowne Road. We are currently on site between Paget High School and Branston Golf Club, in between the golf club and Regatta Lane allotments and next to Meadowside Leisure Centre. We have prepared the site and will to start work on the embankment soon which again includes sheet piling. The main construction work in this area will be finished around May, with a further section of works tying the defences in with the railway, being planned for completion by late summer.

We are on schedule despite high river levels causing some delays over the autumn period.

Following on from Paget High School work we are moving down towards Branston Golf and Country Club where we start sheet piling soon. Part of our working area is close to houses, where we have already installed a haul road and temporary flood defences. We will be constructing the flood defence near to these houses in spring.

Below is an image of the sheet piling carried out between the golf course and the orchard by Paget High School in January 2020

We have been on site in the area around Meadowside Leisure Centre since October. Access along the public right of way is restricted but diversions are in place.  We will start to take the wall down before it is replaced by a new one and will be here until the July/August.

In January we will start work around the library steps. This will involve raising the top step and raising the path which acts as the defence, along the side of the library grounds.

By mid-February we will start work in the Wetmore Lane area. This involves raising defences which are extremely close to properties on the Riverside Residential Park. This could have meant significant disruption to residents, including temporary relocation during the works. However, we managed to find a solution which means that residents can stay in their homes. There will be noise from plant and machinery, but this will be greatly reduced using this method, especially considering the close proximity of some of the homes to our defences. We will be here until the summer and the work here involves sheet piling.

The table below shows when we are working on the different locations in more detail

This programme is subject to change and will be updated frequently.

Engaging with communities

We have been engaging with residents along the flood embankment since late 2017 to make them aware of the planned work and to ensure that they can feed in any comments and concerns.

We continue to engage with residents, in particular as and when we start construction near their homes.

We will post information about further drop in sessions on this website and inform all people who have signed up to our email database by email. We also leaflet the people most directly affected by the work ahead of key stages of construction.

You can sign up to our database by contacting the Public Liaison Officer on the details on the top right hand side of this page.

Environmental improvements -Washlands Strategy

We have supported East Staffordshire Borough Council (ESBC), who have been successful in securing £3m from Greater Birmingham Local Enterprise Partnership. This will enable additional public realm enhancements beyond the scope of the flood defence works around the library and leisure centre area.

There are some important things to be aware of regarding these enhancements, which will create a feature wetland area with a boardwalk and improvements to the public realm.  ESBC will lead these works but we will deliver some of the public realm works where it forms part of, or is close to, the flood defence scheme. This means that when we finish the flood defence works the public realm works may appear unfinished. They will be completed as part of phase 2 of the public realm improvements, lead by ESBC, before the end of March 2021.

We will be delivering the following public realm improvements in this area;

-New flood wall between the library and leisure centre

-Wider path which can accommodate more users at once, including cyclists

-Raising and resurfacing the library concourse with granite paving to accommodate a new raised step

-2 new sets of pedestrian stair cases and hand rails

-A raised and newly resurfaced path from the library to the remembrance garden.

The image below shows who will be working where;

Blue areas will be enhanced as part of the flood defence works, as phase 1. Red area as part of phase 2 by ESBC.

More information about the vision can be found on: www.eaststaffsbc.gov.uk/washlands-project 

Footpath closures during work

Unfortunately footpath closures will have to take place during the works. This is mainly for health and safety purposes.

We will do our best to reduce disruption by notifying local residents in advance and suggesting suitable alternative routes, as per below;

From June 2019 to Summer 2020 the footpath behind Blackpool Street between Watchman’s cottage and St Matthew Street will be closed to the public whilst we are carrying out the work. An alternative route on this stretch will be through Blackpool Street and Burton Road.

The footpath between Lansdowne Road and the golf course is closed for approximately 1 year from July 2019. The footpath will be re-opened and much improved after completion of the work. There will be no diversion, but we suggest using Burton Road as an alternative route.

The footpath between the cricket club and the allotments is now closed for the duration of the work, estimated to be from Autumn 2019 to Autumn 2020. There will be an improved path on top of the defence to allow access between the cricket club and the allotments once the work is completed.

Work by Burton Library and the Leisure Centre has now started and is likely to continue until late 2020. The footpath between the current flood defence and the Washlands is now closed. A temporary diversion is in place, which provides safe passage across the Washlands, avoiding the immediate working area. The library car park is now also closed until late 2020. 

 In Spring/ Summer 2020 we anticipate to work on the flood defence by Electric Street. We anticipate access to playing field to be through the already available alternative entrance off Wetmore Lane during construction.

The informal footpath by the side of Riverside Mobile Home Park will need to be closed from February 2020 to Summer 2020.

Please keep visiting our information page as we will be updating it every two to three months. Our next update is due 3 April 2020. This page will be open to the public until the end of construction in 2021.

Thank you for visiting our project information page.