Have your say on Exmouth flood defence upgrade

East Devon District Council, in conjunction with the Environment Agency (EA) and the council’s consultants WSP │ Parsons Brinckerhoff, will be holding a drop-in consultation event on Wednesday  February 3 2016, from 2pm to 7pm, at Exmouth Town Hall, in order to gather valuable feedback from the local community on a number of proposed options to upgrade Exmouth’s flood defences.

The options relate to the risk of flooding to inland areas of Exmouth such as the Colonies, as well as affecting the estuary side and seafront.

Invitations to the event have been sent to residents in areas at risk of flooding and those in areas for which options are being recommended. 

A number of options will be considered as part of the scheme, which stretches from Withycombe Brook in the North through to the seafront at the Imperial Hotel in the South. It is important that as many people as possible attend the consultation, to hear what  the council and the EA is planning and to express their opinion on the suggested options – the information provided by local residents will assist the project team in deciding which options should be included as part of a  preferred scheme that will be submitted as an application for flood defence funding from Central Government.

The scheme is split into three main areas:

• For the first area, which runs from Withycombe Brook to Imperial Recreation Ground, options for the upgrading of the flood defences, include raising existing ground levels and creating walls up to around waist height along the estuary.
• The second area runs from Imperial Recreation Ground and around Camperdown Creek to the Sailing Club. Options here include ramps, flood gates, individual property protection, head height walls alongside the estuary and a barrier across the Creek itself.
• For the third area, which runs from Mamhead Slipway and along the seafront to the Imperial Hotel, there are options such as raising the sea wall, creating a rock revetment in front of it, improving the drainage behind the sea wall and creating a secondary sea wall on the opposite side of the road.

Diagrams of each option, as well as  visualisations using 3D models, will be on display at the Town Hall and members of the project team will be on hand to explain each option and to answer any questions.