Drop-in meeting for new plans for the Welwick to Skeffling habitat creation project
Come and discuss the plans and ask any questions
The Environment Agency and Associated British Ports (ABP) are holding a drop-in meeting for the local community and local businesses about the revised plans for the habitat creation project in Welwick and Skeffling.
The meeting will be held on Thursday 14 July from 3pm to 7pm at Skeffling Village Hall, Skeffling, HU12 0UX.
Members of the project team will be on hand to give information and answer any questions or concerns about some of the key changes that have had to be made to the project and give details of what the project is aiming to achieve in the year ahead.
Environment Agency Project Manager, Tim Cobb, said:
The key changes to this project are the size, shape and location of the potential habitat area. We need to create compensatory habitat to allow other critical flood risk management projects around the estuary to progress.
To do this we have to work with the land that we own and now plan to utilise this. We look forward to welcoming people at our drop in meeting to discuss the plans and also welcome any other views or comments about the scheme.
Please send any responses or questions by email to welwick.skeffling@environment-agency.gov.uk or in writing to:
Tim Cobb
NCPMS
Environment Agency
Lateral
8 City Walk
Leeds LS11 9AT
As well as delivering important habitat to replace ongoing losses, the scheme also presents an opportunity to reduce flood risk to land and communities. Construction of new defences, which will replace the old banks, will offer a higher standard of protection and reduced likelihood of breaching than the existing defences.
Since the summer of 2015 the project team has been collecting environmental data on the existing habitat to ensure that the Environment Agency can provide suitable mitigation for the current wildlife.
The next step in the project is to define the exact scheme footprint and habitat areas. Further environmental surveys, archaeology and ground investigations will be taking place over the next three months.
The Environment Agency and ABP will then develop the outline scheme into a design in preparation for submitting a planning application for the two sites. During this process, we will be meeting with and discussing the changed project with landowners, parish councils, the community, local authority and other interested groups.