Design ideas

The community have raised concerns about the following aspects of the scheme:  

• The look and feel of the proposed channel, adjacent to public spaces  
• The impact of the scheme on public green spaces 
• The importance of maintaining bridge crossings 
• Loss of biodiversity and screening from plants along the channel 
• Impacts on water quality 
• Impacts and disturbance during construction 
• Loss of parking 
• Impacts on private gardens.

We have carefully considered these concerns and incorporated the following into our proposal: 

• Reducing visual impacts, by incorporating the existing, natural embankment into our solution 
• Reducing the height of the flood defence; and repositioning our design, to keep the visual screening of existing vegetation where possible 
• Retaining the existing Cornish hedge and identifying further opportunities for planting, that will be in-keeping with the character of the area 
• Undertaking a Water Impact Assessment, to identify ways to avoid or minimise our impacts on water bodies 
• Delivering at least a 10% ‘biodiversity net gain’; as well as removing non-native plants and re-introducing native species 
• Retaining all bridge crossings and improving accessibility, by incorporating ramps and steps; retaining existing structures attached to private gardens where possible; and reconfiguring parking spaces to avoid reductions 
• Being a proud member of the Considerate Constructors Scheme, using noise and vibration reducing techniques; locating the compound outside the village; and avoiding construction around the busiest periods of the year, to reduce community disruption