West Country charity handed £140k to deliver sustainable tidal barrier in Bridgwater
The taxpayer cash has been awarded by the County Council - with the charity expected to match the funding
A West Country charity has been awarded £140,000 of taxpayers’ money to help deliver a new tidal barrier in the most sustainable way possible.
Sedgemoor District Council and the Environment Agency (EA) jointly put forward proposals in December 2019 for the new barrier near the Express Park in Bridgwater, which is designed to protect around 13,000 homes and 1,500 businesses from being flooded in the coming decades.
Work on the £128m barrier is already under way following final approval in January 2022, with the council agreeing in December to transfer land within the Express Park to the EA to aid the construction effort.
Now the Wildfowl and Wetland Trust (WWT), which is based at Slimbrige in Gloucestershire, has been awarded a contract by Somerset County Council to “deliver environmental benefits” alongside the barrier, to increase biodiversity and encourage wildlife once the project is completed.
The WWT currently operates the Steart Marshes nature reserve at the mouth of the River Parrett, and helped to deliver the Meads ‘eco park’ on the western edge of Bridgwater.
The charity was initially commissioned for two years to “identify opportunities and projects that would enhance sustainability and deliver environmental benefits” around the barrier area, with this work being funded by the district council.
The £140,000 now being promised by the county council will help to deliver part of these improvements, with the charity being expected to match this funding through grant applications and fundraising,
Nick Tait, the county council’s service manager for policy, said: “Up to 50 per cent of the costs of delivering this phase (not including capital) will be funded for the project, equating to £140,000 over three years.
“WWT is expected to fund the remaining 50 per cent through successful grant applications and are also expected to raise capital for the delivery of certain projects.
“They are a charity with extensive experience and success in fundraising.”
Early iterations of the tidal barrier plans, which were published in 2018, envisioned a riverside park being created on the west bank of the river, linking up to both the Express Park and Chilton Trinity via a cycle link over the barrier.
While the cycle link is expected to be retained – and will connect up to new cycle links to the town centre, funded through the government’s levelling up fund – further details of the park have not been made public.
Major construction work on the barrier has been partially delayed following the discovery of asbestos near the new access road being built on Saltlands Lane.
However, Mr Tait said that “detailed design work” would be completed this year, allowing construction to ramp up in early-2024.