Alconbury Brook Flood Group (FG) Report October 23rd 2022

Alconbury Brook Flood Alleviation Scheme.

A meeting took place last week with EA about the Flood Alleviation Scheme (‘the options’). These are regular scheduled meetings.

Progress is being made.

EA and FG consensus that national contractors may not be able to price scheme so that cost/benefit ratio of 1 or more is reached.

Good discussion about possible ways forward that may show increased benefit and reduced cost in a different funding framework.

EA have commissioned a Survey Team to ‘map’ the brook. The resulting data will be the basis for flood models. Work will start their work November/December. This new step will cause some delay, but we anticipate will demonstrate greater potential benefit. In the meantime the ‘lived accounts’ of flooding will be used.

We are keen that the EA raise the potential storage capacity of the option upstream of AW when calculating the benefit of that option.

We also want the ‘benefit’ to include the work the FG are doing which has no cost to the Flood alleviation scheme.

40 Ponds project (Landscape Recovery/NFM)

• Work on Black Lodge Pond should be nearly complete by the time your read this.

• Application for a Windfarm grant for Buckworth Brook floodplain (scrape) has been successful. Target is to complete work on this by Christmas. We will need help from our lovely volunteers to clear and mark out the site.

• Our difficulties in managing the planning application process for the Alconburv Weston Pond have lead us to appoint a planning consultant. Cambridgeshire County Council have agreed to advance us the funding for the consultant and the planning application.

• Ian Gardener has kindly supported setting up a meeting with the Head of Planning at Huntingdonshire District Council to create a policy route through the pond planning process which is hopefully going to happen many more times. This will be a joint meeting with the Karen Paterson from the EA.

• Karen also has 2 new pond projects underway in the upper parts of the catchment.

CIL funding

Our CIL funding application was turned down. However again thanks to Ian Gardener, the District Council have agreed to look at ways to achieve the same objective. We have a meeting with the EA, Ian and the chief planning officer next week.

Flyover Gabions

Progress still being made with design work

Volunteers/ Maintenance

Fantastic work by volunteers this month, quality cutting by the IDB drivers

Under permit exemption silt has been removed from the old footbridge in Alconbury Weston and near the fly-over in Alconbury

The internal Drainage Board team have flailed the banks from Alconbury Weston to the lower part of Brooklands Farm (further than previous years). We are very pleased with the work done which has been careful and thorough.

The Flood Group Volunteers have continued to clear brush and bushes from the banks where the tractor mower has been unable to reach including near the start of Brooklands Farm, near the Alconbury Ford footbridge, banks of rear gardens on the High Street Alconbury and Alconbury Weston and several other sections of the brook.