Somerset Council pledge extra £14m for Bridgwater tidal barrier
The total cost of the project - which will hopefully be completed by mid-2027 - is expected to be around £230m
Somerset Council has pledged to provide nearly £14m of “partnership funding” to ensure that the Bridgwater tidal barrier can be delivered on time.
The Environment Agency has been working with the council to deliver a tidal barrier across the River Parrett between the Express Park in Bridgwater and the neighbouring village of Chilton Trinity – a barrier which will provide protection to more than 11,300 homes and more than 1,500 businesses.
The barrier is in the early stages of construction, with the project now expected to cost around £230m in light of high inflation and supply chain issues within the construction industry.
The council has now formally entered into an agreement with the EA, which will see millions of pounds from housing developments, regeneration grants and retained business rates officially being committed to the barrier project.
This in turn is likely to ensure the Treasury gives approval to the final business case for the barrier, with chancellor of the exchequer Rachel Reeves expected to sign off on the matter in the autumn.
The tidal barrier was one of the major projects identified within the Somerset 20-year flood action plan, which was created in early-2014 in response to the catastrophic floods which hit the Somerset Levels and Moors in the winter of 2013/14.
The barrier will be constructed across the River Parrett between the Express Park and Chilton Trinity – with a footbridge running over the top to enable pedestrian and cycling access to both sides of the river.
The barrier will have two ‘vertical lift’ gates which can be closed to prevent water from flowing upstream during very high tides – something which would put Bridgwater and the neighbouring villages at great risk.
New flood defences will also be created downstream of the barrier to prevent flooding and protect numerous species, including eels and fish.
The funding agreement was formally ratified by the council’s executive committee when it convened in Taunton on August 5.
Of the £13.7m committed by the council as part of the new agreement with the EA, £9.1m is funding which it currently holds, comprising:
- £2.7m from flood defence tariffs collected from housing developers (including a sizeable contribution from the EDF campus on the A39 Bath Road)
- £2.4m from the community infrastructure levy (CIL) which is paid by housing developers – amounting to 20 per cent of all CIL payments collected from housing developments in the former Sedgemoor area up to March 2023
- £2m from the Bridgwater town deal (which will be largely spent on the new bridge across the barrier and associated active travel links near the site)
- £2m from the levelling up fund (targeted towards improving the ‘Bridgwater northern corridor’, which includes the Dunball and Cross Rifles roundabouts
The council estimates a further £5.9m could be made available by 2028 – of which £3.9m would come from CIL and £2m from the Gravity enterprise zone investment plan (which covers the delivery of the new gigafactory).
While this would create a total contribution of £15m, it comes with the caveat that developer contributions may not come forward in a timely fashion due to delays in delivering the Hinkley Point C nuclear power station – with the £13.7m figure being a more realistic estimate of what can be contributed.
Due to the rising cost of the barrier since the first estimates were made, the council’s partnership funding has fallen as a share of the project budget, dropping from around 20 per cent of the project cost in 2014 to less than six per cent in 2024 (with the EA shouldering the additional costs).
If the Treasury gives final approval in the autumn, construction on the barrier will ramp up before Christmas, with the flood defences expected to be fully operational by mid-2027.