A public “drop in” session is to be held at Marlborough Town Hall next month to give residents and businesses in Kennet Place details of the £233,000 flood protection scheme due to go ahead later this year.
The Environment Agency, Wiltshire Council and Marlborough Town Council have joined forces in the project following the 2003 disaster when unprecedented rain caused the river Kennet to overtop its banks.
Representatives of the agency and the two councils, who have signed a partnership agreement, will be on hand in the Assembly Room between 4 and 8pm on September 12 to share details of the scheme, which will directly affect four houses and five businesses in Kennet Place.
But there is some concern about the project, which involves building a wall on the bank of the Kennet, to protect hidden power lines running close to the river.
“I am hugely apprehensive about the visual impact of this wall going up,” newly-co-opted town councillor Val Compton, who lives in one of the properties, told Marlborough News Online.
“But it would be stupid to argue against such protection and we may well be thanking our lucky stars for it in the coming years. I just love the outlook and the river… so feeling a bit sad that it’s all change.
“However, we’ll get a little wildlife island opposite me and some say in the planting up in front of wall. With the water noise changing when the fish pass goes in, it will seem quite different in Kennet Place.
“Again, I totally support the idea because needs of wildlife, which is under pressure, has to take precedence over history. What we have in this beautiful chalk stream that runs through Marlborough is very precious.”
Wiltshire Council has contributed £41,000 to the project, Marlborough Town Council £36,000, the Environment Agency footing the remainder.
Mark Heelis, the agency’s flood risk advisor, said: “We are thrilled that this scheme has gained support from both Wiltshire Council and Marlborough Town Council. We could not have done it without their support.
“We are pleased to be able to deliver a long-lasting flood defence at Kennet Place, which will greatly reduce the flood risk to homes and businesses and enhance the local environment.”
Derek Wolfe, Marlborough’s town clerk, pointed out: “The council is very pleased to see this much-needed scheme finally coming to fruition. Once completed, the flood defences will enhance the lives of those members of our local community living and working in the vicinity of Kennet Place, by greatly reducing the risk of flooding and the devastation it can cause.”
And Councillor Richard Pitts, who chairs the town council’s Amenities and Open Spaces Committee, added: “I would like to congratulate Mark Heelis on his fantastic work in seeing this project to this point.
“I am delighted that we have been able to go forward with the project, knowing that everyone has done their best to provide a viable solution for the flooding issues of Kennet Place.
“Although the majority of people do not see this as a real issue, when abstraction of Kennet water for Swindon comes to an end we can expect to see much higher river levels with a greater potential for flooding.
“This new stable door will keep the white horses of a raging Kennet firmly where they should be in the river — long before they have thought about bolting up Kennet Place.”
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