Posted on January 30, 2017
By RobinJenkins, GloucestershireLive
The much called-for dredging of part of the River Avon at Tewkesbury could happen later this year.
With flooding often affecting the town and surrounding villages, there have been repeated calls in recent years for the authorities to carry out dredging.
Residents have said they remembered it being done more often in the past, with special boats being deployed to clear debris from the riverbed and so increase the space available for water to flow down.
And while the Environment Agency has declined to carry out the work in the past, saying in 2014 for example that it would not be nearly enough to solve the town’s flooding problems, it now looks like it could happen in 2017.
In response to a Gloucestershire Live query, about riverside resident Alan Purkiss complaining of a build of silt near the Abbey Mill, the agency’s Andrew Dewar said: “We assess the value of dredging and channel clearance carefully on a location by location basis and carry it out where it will benefit the most people and properties.
“We submitted a bid for funding to dredge the Mill Avon next financial year and are awaiting the outcome on this. If this bid is successful it will address some of the concerns we have been in communication with Mr Purkiss about.
“Our project team have already started important maintenance work on the Abbey Mill sluice to enable the gate to be operated for years to come and help manage water levels in the river channel.
“As part of this work we will remove silt from the immediate area around the sluice. Once this work is completed and the sluice gate is operational, some of the silt build up will be removed naturally by the flow of the river channel.”
In an email to the agency, Mr Purkiss said he wished it every success with its funding application and asked to be kept closely informed.
Source: GloucestershireLive
