The Environment Agency is putting its plans for new schemes to reduce flooding in Horncastle and Louth on show - the schemes are set to be submitted for planning permission in March.
Drawings and information sheets will be on display at Horncastle library during the last week of January and at Louth library during the first week of February with members of the Environment Agency project teams also on-hand for separate question and answer sessions in Horncastle and in Louth.
The £8.1million Horncastle scheme will see a flood storage reservoir – or washland – built to reduce flood risk from the River Bain. The £6.5million Louth scheme will create two reservoirs outside the town to reduce risk from the River Lud.
The proposed Horncastle and Louth washlands will include new earth embankments and automatic control structures. The control structures would manage water levels through the towns by gradually closing as river flows increase. This would maintain a constant flow through the towns until water levels begin to fall, allowing the control sluice to gradually open and the washland to empty.
Andrew Barron, Flood and Coastal Risk Management Senior Advisor at Environment Agency, said:
“We are making good progress with these important and long-awaited schemes and are busy preparing to submit planning applications to make them a reality. They have been developed through a strong partnership with the county council, town and district councils and internal drainage boards and we now want to give people the chance to see our plans.”
“The Horncastle and Louth schemes would reduce flood risk from the rivers Bain and Lud but it is still important for people to recognise that flooding cannot always be prevented and may come from sources other than the river.”
The Horncastle scheme is a partnership between the Environment Agency, Lincolnshire County Council, East Lindsey District Council, Witham 3rd Internal Drainage Board and Horncastle Town Council.
The Louth scheme partnership is made up of Lincolnshire County Council, East Lindsey District Council, Louth Town Council and Lindsey Marsh Drainage Board.
Both schemes are being designed and built for the Environment Agency by VBA.
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