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Help save our local riverside car park

The WLARC car park, with the River Thames in the background

The WLARC car park, with the River Thames in the background

The Environment Agency (EA) proposes to replace some much used local riverside parking with a hot food and drink concession, right next to the Weybridge Ladies Amateur Rowing Club (WLARC) at the end of Thames Street, Weybridge. The EA has applied to Elmbridge for planning consent for this change of use of part of the car park, EBC 2025/0385.

The deadline for comments to Elmbridge is 27 April 2025.

Most residents and visitors we have spoken with think the proposed change would be a very bad idea. 
Here are some reasons why:

  • This popular small car park, in riverside Green Belt, is often fully parked, so removing some spaces would disadvantage riverside visitors
  • The EA plans are inaccurate on number of spaces: the area shown for change of use would in practice remove much more than two parking spaces
  • The EA plans fail to show the Thames Path and National Cycle Route 4, which both pass through the middle of the car park
  • Any queue for food, or standing by the vendor site, would dangerously obstruct the footpath and cycle path
  • There is nowhere to sit and eat, so food would be eaten on the hoof, resulting inevitably in litter along the riverside
  • The EA has a history of failing to maintain this car park, so there is good reason to believe they would fail to manage daily clearing of litter
  • A hot food vending concession here would be out of keeping with the many healthy riverside activities for which people visit this location
  • There are already two excellent food-serving pubs and two riverside cafes within 200 metres, each with ample seating for their customers
  • The application site is Class 3 Floodplain, directly adjacent to the river, and part of the car park was flooded in 2003 and 2014.

Help save our car park by objecting by 27 April to Elmbridge Planning Application 2025/0385 at
https://www.elmbridge.gov.uk/planning/find-or-comment-planning-application.
You can use the QR code below for direct access to the application details:
https://qr-code.click/i/680a17b88e317


EBC Planning Application 2025/0385 – Car Park South West of Weybridge Ladies Rowing Club Walton Lane Weybridge KT13 8LU – change of use from car park spaces to hot food and drink concession.

Update

We note that a different part of the Environment Agency has objected to this Environment Agency planning application, on the grounds that it is in Class 3 floodplain, and the application has no Flood Risk Assessment yet.

We also recall that a corner of this car park was flooded in 2003 and again in 2014.

It is still very important to object for all the other applicable reasons, to prevent an amended application with a favourable Flood Risk Assessment simply getting around that objection.

Some background 

The history of this car park is one of serious neglect by the EA

Elmbridge Borough Council believed it owned this land for many decades. EBC tended it, collected waste from three EBC-owned bins in the car park, and by 2008 had allocated capital for improvements. Then in 2009 the EA registered ownership, as part of its major riverside land registration for the Lower Thames Flood Risk Management Strategy.

When Elmbridge then withdrew its bins on losing ownership, the EA refused to arrange for waste collection from the site, telling Elmbridge, ‘we are not in the business of managing car parks’. Which left some of us wondering why the EA had registered ownership.  Subsequently an agreement was made for EBC to provide and empty three bins and provide a weekly clean up.

Elmbridge also used to maintain the adjacent stretch of riverbank, and kept it immaculately, but the the EA registered ownership, and has rather neglected its upkeep. See before and after pictures of the riverside.

Improvement funding

Some years later, local Weybridge residents worked closely with Thames Landscape Strategy and Elmbridge BC in framing a well-conceived and practical improvement plan, to resurface the dangerously uneven and neglected car park, and create a viewing platform on the sloping land overlooking the river, and remove self-seeded saplings and scrub, opening up the view towards Shepperton weir.

This excellent landscaping project was awarded a grant of circa £72,000 capital funding from the Elmbridge Community Infrastructure Levy.

However the project foundered, we understand because of lack of agreement from the EA about paying for future maintenance of the car park, and the funding has lapsed.

Overall this is a sad tale of neglect by the EA. And now the added insult and injury of a ‘hot food and drink concession’ diminishing the parking facility for visitors, and changing the character of this length of riverside, to the dismay of many.  

History suggests that the EA will do nothing effective to manage the daily use of the concession and ensure that all the resulting litter it creates along the riverside is cleared up.

Residents and visitors alike hope to enjoy our beautiful and largely unspoilt lengths of local riverside. This application takes no account of their needs and expectations

River Thames Scheme Consultation 2024

New Thames foot/cycle crossing from Desborough and across new Flood Relief Channel weir

Proposed new Thames foot/cycle crossing from Desborough and across new Flood Relief Channel weir

The River Thames Scheme statutory consultation starts on 22 January 2024 and runs until 4 March 2024. While the flood relief elements largely benefit areas upstream of Weybridge, the landscaping proposals contain a major win for those of us who have campaigned for better sustainable travel linkage between Weybridge and Shepperton: a plan for a new pedestrian/cycle bridge across the River Thames from Desborough Island, giving access to Shepperton, and to a network of new riverside walks and green areas alongside the new flood relief channels. This will be a major step in sustainably linking our communities.

The consultation is open to all.

  • You can view the RTS Statutory Consultation documents here.
  • And you can view the RTS Consultation StoryMaps website here.
  • There will be RTS Consultation drop in events and exhibitions at a variety of local venues in the coming weeks. See locations and dates for RTS Consultation events.
  • Nearby RTS Consultation Events include:
    – Chertsey Hall, Heriot Rd, KT16 9DR – Friday 2 Feb, 1pm to 7pm
    – Shepperton Village Hall, 58A High St, TW17 9AU – Saturday 3 Feb 10am to 4pm
    – Vine Hall, Vine Rd, Molesey, East Molesey KT8 9LF – Sunday 4 Feb  10am to 4pm
    – Cecil Hepworth Playhouse, Hurst Grove, Walton KT12 1AU – Monday 5 Feb 1pm to 7pm
    – Shepperton Village Hall, 58A High St, TW17 9AU – Saturday 17 Feb  10am to 4pm

PPDRA has participated in stakeholder meetings and consultations since the start of the River Thames Scheme. We were originally greatly concerned about potential flooding around Walton Lane Weybridge from the discharge of a flood relief channel opposite D’Oyly Carte Island, and about the amenity impact of proposals to displace the Thames Path in widening Desborough Cut.

Detailed flood modelling discussions from 2015 onwards were reassuring, and also established that lowering the riverbed downstream of Desborough Island would have a more positive effect on flow and flood relief than widening the Cut. Combined with proposals for the long hoped-for cycle/footbridge to Shepperton, this gives the scheme a much more positive impact for Weybridge residents and users of the Thames Path and National Cycle Route 4.

You can read more about previous RTS consultations and PPDRA questions and input on this website, including:

  • 2014:  Flood Diversion Coming To Weybridge
  • 2015:  Will the River Thames Scheme increase flood risk downstream?
  • 2016:  OPINION: Thames Flood Diversion – Time For A Rethink?
  • 2016:  Flood Updates — River Thames Scheme interim answers
  • 2016:  Walton Lane Environment Agency flood meeting (flow models & options)
  • 2017:  RTS Walton Lane Flood Meeting Update (detailed flood modelling)
  • 2022:  River Thames Scheme Consultation Nov-Dec 2022 (local comments)

………………………………………………………………………………..

Here is a copy of the RTS 2024 Statutory Consultation announcement email:

Have Your Say on The River Thames Scheme- 22nd January 2024 to 4th March 2024

“I am writing to you to notify you that statutory consultation on the River Thames Scheme (“the Scheme”) will run from 22nd January 2024 to 4th March 2024.

The Scheme is being delivered by the Environment Agency and Surrey County Council, in partnership with other local authorities and interested parties. It represents a new landscape-based approach to creating healthier, more resilient, and more sustainable communities. The integrated Scheme responds to the challenges of flooding; creating more access to green open spaces and sustainable travel routes, in addition to encouraging inclusive economic growth, increasing biodiversity and responding to the dual challenges of climate change and nature recovery.

Once built, the flood channel will be considered in legal terms to be a ‘flood defence structure’ and it is intended that it will also be a ‘main river’. Further information on what this means is contained in the statutory consultation brochure and on the consultation website set out below.

The Scheme includes the following proposals:

  • The creation of a new flood channel in two sections through the boroughs of Runnymede and Spelthorne, totalling over 5 miles (8.5km) long;
  • Capacity improvements to the River Thames through lowering the middle part of the bed of the River Thames downstream of Desborough Cut;
  • Capacity improvements to the Sunbury, Molesey, and Teddington weirs to increase the amount of water that can flow through them by installing more gates that can be opened when river levels rise;
  • New green open spaces associated with the flood channel, with access for local communities and facilities such as sports fields, accessible pathway network, nature play spaces and associated new landscape features;
  • Priority areas for habitat creation, enhancement and mitigation, which link existing and new wildlife corridors, improve fish passage and build upon the network of existing wildlife sites;
  • New or improved active travel provision associated with the flood channel corridor in areas of enhanced public connection, linking to the existing network and two new pedestrian and cycle bridges across the River Thames at Chertsey and Desborough Island;
  • Changes to the road layout and utilities, including temporary diversions during construction;
  • Temporary construction features such as site compounds and materials processing and storage sites; and
  • Temporary car parking for construction workers.

Following a direction from the Secretary of State for the Department of Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), the Scheme has been designated a project of national significance for which development consent is required. As such, the Environment Agency and Surrey County Council will be required to submit an application for a Development Consent Order (DCO). The Scheme is currently in the pre-application stage of the DCO application process.

We are now holding a statutory consultation on our proposals and this is your chance to help us shape the design we submit to the Planning Inspectorate as part of the DCO application.

To find out more:

  1.     Visit our consultation website: www.riverthamesscheme.org.uk to access our consultation materials, including interactive maps and online feedback form.
  2.     Come along to one of our consultation events- where you can speak to a member of the project team and view the consultation materials.

Additionally, we will be hosting virtual events for those unable to attend the in-person events. To sign up to one of these events, simply email:  enquiries@riverthamesscheme.org.uk.

The consultation will run for a period of six weeks between 22nd January and 4th March 2024. The deadline for submitting responses will be 11:59pm on 4th March 2024.

Have your say by:

  1.       Completing the online feedback form: www.riverthamesscheme.org.uk
  2.       Completing the paper feedback form: Available at our public consultation events and returning it to the address below.
  3.       Writing a letter to: FREEPOST RTUK – RBLY – XUBT, RIVER THAMES SCHEME, 5 First Street, Manchester, M15 4GU
  4.       Sending an email to: enquiries@riverthamesscheme.org.uk

The Environment Agency and Surrey County Council will consider and have regard to all responses when developing the DCO application following the consultation. Please note that responses and other representations will be recorded in and form the basis of a Consultation Report and, therefore may become public. For further details please see our Privacy Notice on the Scheme website www.riverthamesscheme.org.uk/privacy.

The project team and I look forward to meeting you at one of our consultation events and receiving your feedback on the proposals presented.

If you have any queries about this correspondence, the Scheme or the consultation, please do not hesitate to contact me by email at enquiries@riverthamesscheme.org.uk.

Yours sincerely,
Jeanne Capey
River Thames Scheme, Project Director ”

 

Portmore Community Meeting and AGM 2019 – Report

What can residents do to influence development of our part of Weybridge, in the face of pressure for much higher housing density? That was the primary focus of the Portmore Park & District community meeting on 26 June. Other topics included green spaces and paths, flooding, and the parking review. Wall displays covered overviews of local issues, topics and developments, to inform and stimulate thinking. Forty four local residents participated, including three Weybridge Riverside Elmbridge councillors. County cllr Tim Oliver was unable to attend but sent a written update.  There was some lively, constructive and positive discussion throughout the event.

Elmbridge Local Plan, and where to put new homes

The meeting drew lessons from the high-density development proposals for Beales Lane (141 local objections, refused) and Bridge House in the High Street (19 objections, consent imminent). Residents at our meeting hope for a less massive, less dominant development in Beales Lane, preferably of houses, certainly something more in keeping with the surroundings.

Government demands mean the planning authority is under pressure to squeeze in higher density developments: the forthcoming Elmbridge Local Plan must find space for 9,480 new homes in the next fifteen years. There will be difficult choices: either much higher density in towns or allowing development on some Green Belt land, or both. The question is where non-damaging high density might be achieved, with adequate infrastructure.

This is already a live issue in other parts of Elmbridge, where residents have become highly mobilised following the 2017 Elmbridge Green Belt review consultations – they want increased density to be elsewhere, and their target towns seem to be Walton and Weybridge.

What can people do locally? Actions discussed were: Take part in the public consultation on Elmbridge Local Plan options, which will run for six weeks from August. Get involved, raise awareness. Work towards constructive answers. Form a neighbourhood forum. Consider a neighbourhood plan.

The importance of green spaces

Other topics at the PPDRA meeting included positive news on local green spaces and paths.

There was strong appreciation of Broadwater Path – used by most participants since being made an accessible public footpath with a two metre wide crushed stone surface – and its role in enabling an application (with Elmbridge support) for national funding to conserve Broadwater lake. Making Footpath 36 (Grenside Road to the Thames) more accessible would also be welcome.

The meeting welcomed the retention of the whole of Churchfields Allotments, and heard about community efforts to enhance the maintenance of the allotment site. There was no support for building a car park on the Churchfields Recreation Ground bowling green.

Roundabout care

A resident raised the very poor state of the roundabout by Morrisons. Participants compared this with the excellent condition of some roundabouts in adjacent boroughs, where garden centres sponsor roundabout landscape maintenance in exchange for discreet advertising signs. There was strong support for Elmbridge to adopt this.

Flooding

There has been little news on further progress with the £700,000,000 River Thames Scheme for flood diversion measures between Datchet and Teddington, which is still seeking to fill a £350,000,000 funding shortfall. But there has been a rehearsal of temporary flood barrier use to protect Walton Lane and Dorney Grove.
The meeting heard of years of active local resident liaison with the Environment Agency, over River Thames Scheme proposals — a major flood diversion channel would discharge opposite the canoe club — and flood modelling. This included PPDRA lobbying to reverse plans (happily subsequently changed) to cut into the south bank on the Desborough Channel, which would have meant relocating the Thames Path closer to the Walton Lane road. Work on the River Thames Scheme recently seems to have gone rather quiet, with some EA personnel moved to other work.

Walton Lane residents have been in continuing contact over local temporary flood response measures. In October 2018 there was a successful Environment Agency rehearsal of putting up a temporary flood barrier from Weybridge Point to the first Desborough Bridge.

Parking Review

The meeting included a discussion on parking, and contrasted the 2009 and 2019 Elmbridge Parking reviews.

A decade ago, in 2009, Surrey County Council proposed a large Controlled Parking Zone west of Thames Street, a north Weybridge CPZ.  The proposals proved very unpopular. They were rejected by local residents for multiple reasons, including loss of capacity leaving some residents unable to park near their homes, a parking ban along Portmore Park Road opening the way to more and faster rat run traffic, and serious displacement issues along the CPZ’s eastern boundaries.

The 2019 review in contrast sets out more localised changes. The proposals aim to: increase safety; make it easier for residents to park close to their homes in Dorchester & Gascoigne Roads; maintain on-street parking capacity; avoid displacement; and create space for daytime two hour waiting by shoppers. These are all aims which are in line with principles long supported by PPDRA and by many residents.

Several participants felt more CPZ space should be allocated for joint use, to permit shopper/visitor two hour waiting as well as long stay residents’ parking.

Grenside Road & St George’s Junior School

Parking problems persist in Grenside Road, and there was disappointment that nothing has been done in the parking review to improve this, beyond the useful addition of double yellows lines on the Grenside Road junction with Grotto Road to help improve safety.

It was noted that St George’s Junior School on-site staff parking is limited, resulting in many staff vehicles having to park on-street. PPDRA understands that the school was advised by an Elmbridge planning officer that a potential application for car parking space on their newly acquired land at the end of Grenside Road would be unlikely to succeed.  PPDRA has suggested that the school might consider seeking consent to put a staff car park on their new land immediately next to the Bannatyne Health Club car park, as the least damaging location.

Thames Street warehouse

A resident raised the continuing issue of concern around inadequate asbestos management on the Thames Street warehouse site. It was agreed that the issue might usefully be given additional publicity in the Weybridge Society newsletter, and PPDRA will follow that up.

Collaboration with the Weybridge Society

It was suggested that closer collaboration with the Weybridge Society would be sensible on major issues affecting our town.  It was agreed that collaboration is a good thing, and the committee would again follow this up.

PPDRA Committee 2019-20

The meeting thanked members of the committee for their contribution over the past year, with particular thanks to two committee members who were standing down: Doug Myers of Walton Lane, and Ian Bonnett of The Willows, who has served as Treasurer for many years.

Members of the Association were delighted to welcome Michael Freeman back onto the committee (in the role of Treasurer), following his term as Elmbridge Borough Councillor, and to welcome onto the committee Lester Gange of Walton Lane. We are still seeking a new committee member from the Dorchester Road/Thames Street area.

The committee elected for 2019-20 comprises:
– Miles Macleod (Chair), Clinton Close
– Michael Freeman (Treasurer), The Swansway, PPR
– Jane Heard (Secretary), Portmore Park Road
– Eleanor Butler, Church Walk
– Lester Gange, Walton Lane
– Pippa Graeme, Elmgrove Road
– Sarah Jane Groves, Grenside Road
– Barbara Molony-Oates, Greenlands Road
– Pauline O’Sullivan, Wey Road
– Diane Phillips, Portmore Park Road
– William Rutherford, Mount Pleasant

Weybridge Point scheme making progress

 

Weybridge point scheme with diagonal path

Plans for improving Weybridge Point took a step forward on 7th December, at a meeting between the Thames Landscape Strategy (TLS), Weybridge residents groups, Weybridge Ladies ARC and local councillors.

The Weybridge Point Scheme was initiated by TLS and the Weybridge Society, and obtained CIL funding after it incorporated some adjustments to meet local needs better (proposed by PPDRA, Weybridge Ladies ARC and other local groups).

Work is soon to start. On 7th December, plans developed from previous meetings — for landscaping the car park and enhancing the ability to view the river and weir — were adjusted so that all parties were happy with the proposals.

Weybridge Point overlooks the confluence of the Thames and Wey, and is valued in many ways:  as a riverside car park; as the entrance to our local stretch of the Thames Path; as part of national Cycle Route 4; as a convenient place for mooring visiting boats; and as a place with a picturesque view towards Shepperton Weir.

The Weybridge Point scheme aims to enhance its use for all of those purposes.

Weybridge-Point-scheme-plan-as-discussed-07-Dec-2017-PPDRA+

The draft TLS plan with a diagonal path was a significant improvement on the very first plans, but it was agreed that it needed some adjustments to avoid reducing riverside parking, to moderate cycle speed past the entrance to the WLARC boathouse, where boats are often carried across the path, and to keep the emergency vehicle access clear.  PPDRA suggested some modifications.

The annotated plan on the left illustrates the agreed amendments.

Putting a dogleg in the desire line path enables maximum parking with a riverside view, slows cycles at the key point, and prevents obstruction of the path and emergency access. A low safety barrier railing will separate the parking from the riverside edge, without obstructing views.

Making the viewing platform a suitable and practical size was high on the agenda. The ground beyond the edge of the car park is fairly level before it drops away. Decking over the relatively level part would be far more affordable than decking needing a tall engineered structure for support.

There was also much discussion of how to limit litter being left outside bins. This has been an increasingly troublesome issue, since the moorings were upgraded and enlarged.

Suggestions at the meeting were for a large (commercial sized) wheeled bin with lid, for boat rubbish, plus normal bins for use by pedestrians and other visitors to the riverside.  The best location for the boat bin is still under discussion, as it depends on easy access for emptying.

Overall the meeting was very positive, and all parties look forward to work starting as soon as possible, so the results can be enjoyed this summer — if at all possible, in time for the Weybridge ladies ARC Regatta on 10th June.

PPDRA has found a picture of Weybridge Point on a postcard sent from Weybridge in 1909.

Weybridge-The-Weir-circa1908-web

It shows a view of the weir, with working horses and a small moored boat in the foreground.

Weybridge Point is a place residents and visitors alike appreciate, and true asset for our community. We look forward to it regaining some of its picturesque charm.

Broadwater Path taking shape at last

Broadwater Path July 2017

Broadwater Path – Weybridge Public Footpath 40

Broadwater Path — a picturesque walk along the edge of Broadwater lake — is at long last becoming a properly surfaced reality.  The path runs through the tranquil Green Belt countryside between Grenside Road, Weybridge and Cowey Sale (Walton Bridge).  Work to lay the crushed stone surface started this month, and should be completed by mid September.

At the time of writing, nearly half the length has already been surfaced, and it looks superb — a good solid surface where before there was tangled undergrowth and mud.  It will be a wonderful lasting asset for our community.

Broadwater Path surfacing in progress

Broadwater Path surfacing in progress July 2017

The surfacing is possible thanks to Community Infrastructure Levy funding secured from Elmbridge Borough Council.

The formal dedication of the public footpath by Surrey County Council was complete by the start of this year, after over 15 years of local effort to make it happen.

Broadwater Path is more than a walk though beautiful scenery — the dedication of the public footpath opens the way for public funding to help conserve the historic Broadwater lake, which has been silting up badly in recent years. We can now look forward with greater confidence to this priceless local feature being enjoyed by future generations.

Route of Broadwater Path

The final agreed official route of Broadwater Path

RTS Walton Lane flood meeting update

Flood prevention was the main topic of an informative meeting on 19 December in Walton Lane, Weybridge, between representatives of the Environment Agency River Thames Scheme and local residents. We learned more about the status of work to model flood flows and levels, and the latest thinking on options for carrying excess water around Desborough Island.

The current preferred option is to widen Desborough Channel by cutting back the north bank (the Desborough Island side of the channel), which would avoid displacing the nationally important amenity of the Thames Path, which runs along the south bank.

The north bank is overgrown with self-seeded trees, a number of which which are reaching the end of their natural life, and in recent years several have been blown down in storms, sometimes partly obstructing the channel. (UPDATE March 2017: The picture below shows a recently blown down poplar, and scrubby trees growing into the channel.)

Widening the north bank would enable this edge of Desborough island, which has been prone to fly tipping, to be made into an appealing riverside nature amenity.  It seems there is a balance to be struck in the decision however, with a few residents of Spelthorne wanting the south bank cut back.

Some Walton Lane residents meanwhile are pressing for the excess river flows to be diverted around the Spelthorne side of Desborough Island, by relocating the direction of the proposed Flood Channel 3 discharge, and dredging around the north of Desborough Island.

The current plans are to discharge the water back into the Thames by D’Oyly Carte Island, reentering the Thames more or less at right angles to the flow of the main river.

Miles Macleod asked if the effects of the momentum of a 150 cubic metres per second flow entering the main stream at right angles had been taken into account (as the momentum of this flow would logically push up the water level against the south bank just before the narrow first Desborough bridge). It seems this has not yet been looked at in the 1D modelling, but the more detailed 2D flow and level modelling will seek to incorporate it.

Headlines from the meeting:

  • Bottom line of the RTS is that it should cause no increase in risk anywhere
  • At the top of Desborough current modelling shows a 0.04 to 0.11 metre reduction in flood levels
  • Modelling has been calibrated using data from six real flood events
  • Calibration of the model includes past flows from all sources (fluvial and groundwater)
  • Target accuracy is +/- 0.15 metres (i.e. it might not actually reduce levels at Desborough…)
  • The river bed beneath the Desborough bridges will be lowered by around 2 metres to accommodate extra flow
  • Current preferred option for increasing flow around Desborough is to cut back the north bank of the Cut

We had a number of questions for which immediate answers were not available, and the EA team have very helpfully now supplied these.  Some key points are that:

  • The total volume of water occupying the floodplain in a 1 in 20 year flood is equivalent to about six hours flow of the Thames
  • Extra total flow downstream of the RTS relief channels caused by that water draining from the floodplain is modelled at about 5-10 cubic metres per second (cumecs) in a total river flow of 500 cumecs
  • More water currently flows around the north of Desborough Island around the old river loop than flows down Desborough Cut; this position will be reversed by the changes proposed in the RTS
  • The width of the channel under the first Desborough bridge below water level is 23.2 metres (and this will not be increased); the modelling takes this into account

Once again, we are extremely grateful to the River Thames Scheme team for the time and effort they are putting into keeping our local community consulted and informed.

desborough-cut-north-bank-trees-feb-2017-1200w

A view towards the Desborough Cut north bank

UPDATE: North bank of the Desborough Cut, viewed from the Thames Path on the south bank in February 2017. Note the poplar blown over in a recent storm, and various trees growing out into the channel obstructing flow.

Thames Lock – new gates and tour

thames-lock-tour-new-gates-web-800

Thames Lock in the Wey Navigation has a new pair of lock gates, and residents were give a rare opportunity to inspect them from inside the lock at the end of November, on completion of the work.  Large numbers of interested visitors were treated to tours by guides with a deep knowledge of the Wey Navigation history, construction and maintenance.

thames-lock-tour-web-800

The wooden lock gates last about twenty years, and this year it was the turn of the lower gates to be renewed. Temporary barriers were installed immediately upstream and downstream of the lock, and the water pumped out. The huge gates are held in their hinges by gravity, so changing the gates was a matter of hoisting out the old and lowering the new custom-built gates into place.

This empty lock gave a rare chance to view the parts of Thames Lock that are normally under water. The upper gates are smaller, as they sit on top of the step to the higher level of the navigation.

thames-lock-upper-gates-web-800

The floor of the lock was originally wood — which is preserved by being under water with very little access to oxygen — but was replaced by concrete some time ago.  The step beneath the upper gates is still made of wood, and includes original Elm baulks which have survived hundreds of years since the navigation was constructed.

thames-lock-elm-step-web-800

Lock gates suffer decay because they are exposed to air and water. The effects can be seen in the old lower gates, pictured here waiting to be taken away by barge.  One can only wonder how many boats have those gates have helped pass up and down the Wey Navigation.

thames-lock-old-gates-web-800

 

 

 

Community Event and PPDRA AGM – 5 Oct 2016

Portmore Park & District Residents Association

Portmore Park & District Residents Association

Local residents are invited to our Portmore Park & District community event on 5 October, from 7:30 pm in the St Charles Borromeo School Hall, Portmore Way.

Keep in touch with what’s happening locally

  • Meet fellow residents and local councillors
  • Find out about things that affect our local community
  • Share your views

The evening will have ample opportunity for asking questions and raising concerns.  It will incorporate (briefly) the PPDRA AGM.

County Councillor Ramon Gray, and Elmbridge Borough Councillors Andrew Davis, Michael Freeman and Andy Muddyman plan to be there.

There will be opportunities to learn more about — and give your views on — topics including

  • Broadwater Path update
  • Weybridge Parking Review
  • River Thames Scheme flood relief
  • Community Resilience
  • Weybridge Point riverside consultation
  • Weybridge town centre
  • town planning and
  • other local matters.

Is there a local topic you would like us to include?
Please do let us know: email contactus @ portmore.org.uk

Provisional Programme

7:30    Chat and light refreshments
8:00   Hear about and discuss local matters as a whole group
9:00   Brief AGM formalities, followed by
discussion in smaller groups of topics of most interest to people
9:45    Close

We hope to see you there!

TLC needed for Weybridge Thames riverside

Weybridge-Riverside-NE-2009

Wouldn’t it be lovely to have a riverside we can be proud of?  Many Weybridge residents recall how attractive our local stretch of Thames riverside was, up until autumn 2009 (see our main picture).  A well-tended riverbank where people could sit on the grass in the sunshine or in the shade of a tree, and enjoy fine views and tranquility.

Then the Environment Agency cut down the trees and fenced off this prime stretch, between Weybridge Ladies ARC and the foot ferry, in the course of works to install concrete moorings. They left the temporary fence in place and the riverbank untended for five years, despite local protests. It looked like this in 2014.

weybridge-riverside-ne-23-09-2014-web4

PPDRA along with local residents pressed for access to the riverbank to be restored and the brambles removed…

ppdra-riverside-story-10-2014

…and the mesh fence was eventually removed, and the brambles that had grown up behind it were strimmed.

But the riverbank has subsequently been left untended, and has again become an unattractive bramble patch. Below is a photo of the same stretch of riverside as in our main picture, showing how it looks in September 2016: overgrown, with brambles and scrubby growth obstructing access and views.

This is the first length of riverside seen by people joining the Thames Path at Weybridge.  It is a significant local amenity.  Surely it deserves some TLC?

weybridge-riverside-oct-2016-ne-1136

We want to see this important piece of riverside getting the care it deserves, with a proper mowing regime to maintain it as a grassy riverbank people can enjoy.  Together with the Weybridge Society, we are lobbying councillors to bring back regular mowing of the grass along this prime stretch of riverbank, to give residents something they can be proud of once more.

LINKS:

Read about the history of the riverbank work here

Read about the ‘Thames Gate-Wey’ moorings scheme here

Walton Lane Weybridge flood update meeting 1 Aug 2016

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The latest River Thames Scheme (RTS) developments and local flood prevention measures – including a possible temporary local flood barrier – were top of the agenda when Walton Lane residents (plus PPDRA Chair Miles Macleod) met with representatives of the Environment Agency and the RTS modelling team on 1 August 2016.

Costs and Benefits of the RTS

We were told that the projected costs of the River Thames Scheme at current values have risen to £476 million, and of that around £250 million has been promised so far (£212m from the Government, £36m from partners). The scheme would have significant benefits in terms of flood relief for residents between Datchet and Shepperton.

The RTS aim for residents of Weybridge — where the proposed Flood Relief Channel 3 would discharge — is that the scheme must not cause any projected increase in local river levels.

In parallel, the Environment Agency (EA) is looking actively at what can be done to mitigate local flood risk in Weybridge.

RTS flows and levels – 1D modelling

While the RTS 2D model (which should give more accurate modelling) is still undergoing peer review, we saw some highly relevant outputs of the latest 1D modelling of local flows and levels in different states of flood, modelled without the proposed Flood Relief Channel 3 in place. The modelling projected local flood levels on land around Walton Lane which very largely coincided with past local experience of actual flood levels. This reflects well on the quality of the modelling work.

Once the 2D model is available, probably by the end of September, it will be run to simulate flows and levels with Flood Relief Channel 3 in place. Then we will be able to get a better indication of the anticipated local impact of that proposed new channel (with its 150 cubic metres per second capacity) discharging at Weybridge

Models of Desborough alternatives

Meanwhile, on 1 August, we were shown the latest 1D modelling of alternative possibilities for works on Desborough Cut or around Desborough Island.

Five possibilities were presented, each of which has now been 1D modelled:

  1. Widening Desborough Cut by 3 metres on the south bank
  2. Widening Desborough Cut by 3 metres on the north bank
  3. Dredging Desborough Cut
  4. Dredging downstream of Desborough Cut
  5. Creating ‘Doug’s Channel’ across Point Meadow and dredging north of Desborough Island

All five possibilities would succeed in avoiding an increase in river levels locally at Weybridge, according to the latest 1D modelling.  Choices will be made  later — we are told this will be after 2D modelling and after further consultation — using a range of criteria, and not simply on up front cost.

Option 5 would cost considerably more than others, as it would involve a huge amount of excavating and dredging. The 1D modelling suggests it would require, as well as cutting a channel across Point Meadow, the dredging of 35000 cubic metres of riverbed (20m wide and 2.2km long) to prevent the upstream RTS works increasing flood risk locally. This option would have a neutral effect north and east of Desborough Island, and would bring the benefit of decreased flood risk at Weybridge.

Impact of silting up again after dredging or widening

1D modelling predicts that the dredging options (3 & 4) would require 12,000 cubic metres of dredging along 1.1km of Desborough Cut, or 10,000 cubic metres of dredging along 1.0km downstream of Desborough Cut, to have a neutral effect at Weybridge.

In discussion it was suggested to us that – while no decisions on preferred option are being made at present –  dredging would have major maintenance implications, which are likely to make dredging Desborough Cut less desirable than widening.

We were told that the River Thames in normal flow ranges achieves a self-managing equilibrium, with silting and scouring occurring as flows change. Hence if dredged it would tend to silt up again (because dredging would allow normal flows to be carried at a slower water speeds) and it would tend to revert to its natural depth profile needed to carry its normal flows, unless regularly dredged.

One question which we did not think to ask at the time, was ‘would the same not be true of widening the Desborough Cut?’. Widening the Desborough Cut would allow normal flows to be carried at a slower water speeds, so would not a widened Desborough Cut similarly tend to silt up and become shallower, hence reducing the maximum flood flow capacity, unless it was regularly dredged back to its current depth?  We are following up on this question.

Implications of widening Desborough Channel

In comparing options 1 & 2, widening Desborough Cut one side or the other, participants were agreed that there are more things to consider than simply cost and increased flow.  A very significant factor is loss of amenity – something which led Elmbridge Borough Council to conclude in 2010 that it could not support the proposals for cutting back the south bank.

If 3 metres of the south bank were to be removed along the length of the Desborough Cut, this would have a serious impact on the amenity and appearance of this stretch of the Thames Path and National Cycle Route 4. It would mean moving the path in places closer to the traffic of Walton Lane, and would forever change a popular riverside path which is used by countless people. There would also be a potentially costly logistical question of how to manage works which would require a national path and cycle route to be closed during those works.

We learnt that the profile of the river bed of the Desborough Channel is not, as previously suggested, vertically deep on the piled south bank and shelving on the north. In fact, close to the south bank it has a shelving river bed, and the piling is simply there to hold back erosion.  Hence cutting back the north bank would not necessarily be significantly more difficult or different in terms of flow impact.

Widening on the north bank would also enable the Environment Agency to deal with those elderly self-seeded trees on its riverside land along the north bank which are in an increasingly poor state, with branches breaking off and trees falling into the river with each major storm.

Bridge bottlenecks in Desborough Channel

A serious concern for Walton Lane residents is the bottleneck in river flow caused by the first bridge across the Desborough Cut. The bridge is much narrower than the channel either side, and it would be too costly to widen it if widening Desborough Cut.

At present, water backs up in times of high flow, with visibly different levels either side of the bridge – high enough on the upstream side that it flooded a neighbouring property in 2014. The river bed was scoured deeper beneath the bridge by those extreme flows of the 2014 floods.

This bridge would become an even more worrying bottleneck if Flood Relief Channel 3 is constructed, increased the potential maximum flow arriving at the bridge.

To facilitate flow under the bridge, the EA is proposing to dredge beneath the bridge, to create a permanently deeper section of river which will be easily scoured in future high flows; also to modify the profile of concrete banking upstream of the bridge.

As a short term measure, residents have funded a small earth bank to help hold back floodwater from overflowing the bank at this point, but more could be done, and more needs to be done if the RTS proceeds with the construction of Flood Relief Channel 3.

EA Proposals for Temporary Flood Barriers

The 1 August Walton Lane meeting was also told of proposals for local flood prevention measures, aimed to protect residents of Walton Lane and Dorney Grove.

These plans are still work in progress by the Environment Agency, but they including a possible temporary local flood barrier which could be erected at short notice to prevent flood water from the River Thames reaching Weybridge homes.

The temporary barrier could run from the bottom of Thames Street and along the Thames Path towards the first bridge across Desborough Channel.

The initial draft route for the temporary barrier would have blocked Walton Lane, and excluded some houses from protection, but residents at the meeting suggested extending the barrier slightly to the point where Walton Lane rises above flood level, avoiding the need to put a barrier across Walton Lane. On the other side of Walton Lane a length of barrier would help prevent water from the engine river reaching homes.

The EA has purchased 40 km nationally of this modular temporary flood barrier system, and Walton Lane / Dorney Grove is a target area for protection. The EA draft plans for Walton Lane are being amended following our meeting, to reflect the suggested rerouting. Further work will be done to look at the relative risk from river overflow and from rising groundwater (which the barrier could not prevent).

Potential for a permanent flood barrier?

Our meeting also discussed the possibility for a more permanent barrier along the river edge between Thames Street and the first Desborough Bridge, either in the form of a bank alongside the path or slightly raised path (as per the Wey Navigation).

Important factors beyond its effectiveness at holding back floods would include the aesthetics of flood protection works along this stretch of the Thames Path, impact on amenity, and the practicalities of easy river access for the WLA Rowing Club, Weybridge Sailing Club and the Canoe Club

Future River Thames Scheme consultation

RTS workshops are planned for the end of September, and Walton Lane Residents anticipate a further update meeting once the 2D modelling has been conducted of river flows and levels at different flood probabilities with Flood Relief Channel 3 in place.

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