Alconbury Brook Flood Group Bulletin March 2024

Hydroplanters at Sports and Social Club and Memorial Hall

• Minor finishing touches made, final load of spoil to go this week.

• Planting out this coming week

• Maintenance contract awarded

Hydroplanters - Vinegar Hill: Vinegar Hill suffers from significant surface water run-off which threatens homes at the bottom of the hill

• County Highways and Drainage have given their approval

• Meeting with us, Streetworks  and our contractors SilverFern to establish road closure and asset registration needs

• Section 50 and road space permits applied for

• Most materials acquired so work can commence as soon as permitting allows

Alconbury Weston Pond: We have applied to have the archaeology condition removed now that the archaeologists have reported. The removal of the condition has to be considered by statutory consultees which takes 3 weeks (from March 11th). We hope that the Planning department will provide a swift decision after that so that work on the pond can start. Everything is in place for this to happen.

Natural England Partnership.: Part of our agreement includes working with 5 farmers on using a soil health phone ap called ‘SoilMentor’. We are delighted that 5 farms will be taking part. Healthy soil and reduced flood risk go hand-in hand.

Also as part of the partnership we are providing open farm events (Farm Walks) to explain some of the experiments and innovations we and the Cowpasture Farm are trying.  If you would like to be included in the Farm Walk invitation mailing list please email info@alconburybrookfloodgroup.co.uk.

EA Flood alleviation scheme: Option modelling will take until the summer

Heritage Bridge, Alconbury: We are pleased to report that the berm which had built up in front of the bridge has been removed by the Internal Drainage Board on behalf of the Environment Agency. Many thanks to them.

Telemetry: Internet of things sensors communicate over short distances with ‘gateways’ which can then transmit information over large distances. We have successfully tested another new gateway which covers sensors in the Gidding area. Our internet of things company c-Things is preparing numerous soil moisture, flow and rain sensors for deployment in the next few weeks. We have started to show volunteers how to log in to the data being collected so they can use it  to help them predict flooding, and for others as a farming tool. We plan to demonstrate our telemetry system more at our AGM in May.

Reed Spraying Course: Many thanks to Alconbury Parish Council for their significant contribution towards the cost of one our members doing a pesticide use course

Sediment tracking project: Sediment build up is a major problem preventing easy flow in the brook. Volunteers have been collecting more soil samples and we have successfully retrieved the traps from each of the main Brook tributaries. The samples and trap contents are being analysed by Rothamsted Research to understand the movement of sediment in the catchment. The brook carries many  thousands of tonnes of good agricultural soil away from farms. Some of it clogs up the brook and reduces flow.

Contact us to volunteer at info@alconburybrookfloodgroup.uk

Donate if you can to www.justgiving.com/thealconburybrookfloodgroup