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ASEA Flood defence newsletter
10 December 2020

Update: A year of delivery – a plan for even more 

Joint message from the lead project partners 

Despite the most challenging circumstances, we are moving forwards with the most significant flood defence and ecology project that the West of England has ever seen. Our contractors, BMMjv, introduced a range of safety measures so that construction work could continue throughout the Covid-19 restrictions. And to great effect. Over the past year, we have made excellent progress to start the construction of the 17km of flood defences that will reduce flood risk to 2,500 homes and businesses and help to unlock 12,000 new jobs for our region. 

Next year promises to be even more exciting as we begin flood defence work both in the south and north areas. We will also continue work on the new wetlands at Northwick and start in Hallen Marsh. We are creating a minimum of 80 hectares of new wetland habitat in the Hallen Marsh and Northwick areas to provide “high-tide roosts” for the birds.  

Our fly-through animation of the first improvement area at Aust provides insight about what our coastline will start to look like as we approach project completion sometime in 2026/27. We welcome any feedback about the project or any future topic that you would like to learn more about in this e-newsletter. 

Cllr Nicola Beech

Cabinet Member for
Spatial Planning
Bristol City Council 


Mayor Tim Bowles
West of England
Combined Authority

Cllr Toby Savage

Leader of South
Gloucestershire Council 



Emma Baker
Area Director
Environment Agency 

Future of flood defence: Aust fly-through 


Our progress so far includes the substantial new earth embankments alongside Passage Road near Aust. The new, larger embankments replace the existing lower flood defence to further reduce flood risk to the area. Our new video shows what the most northerly area will look like when complete. As well as flood defence, the improvements also provide the opportunity for people to walk near the coastline to discover nature from vantage points overlooking the Severn Estuary.  

Watch our new project video below:

The year ahead in 2021 

Subject to Covid-19, we expect an acceleration of progress on the construction which includes a combination of starting main works and new trial panels – where we test the effectiveness of the materials and design used in specific locations before building on a larger scale. The table below contains the current program of new works. We will also complete the flood defence sections at Aust Wharf Road, Passage Road and Cake Pill, including new road ramps and flood gates.  
Work, Location & Estimated Start

Area 1

Flood defence walls on Aust Wharf Road at Old Passage; Severn Beach North; Severn Beach South; From Winter 2020 and throughout 2021 

Earth embankment flood defence upgrade from Passage Road to New Passage; Spring to Summer 2021

Six-metre trial panel of the new flood defence at Severn Beach (South of Station Road) on the existing flood defence; Spring 2021.

Six-metre trial panel of the new flood defence low-level wall and glass panel at New Passage; Autumn 2021.

Area 2

Flood defence wall at Lamplighter’s Marsh, near River Avon (two-year project); Spring 2021.
 
Area 4

Hallen Marsh wetland creation; Spring 2021 

Reinvigorating the natural environment 

The scale and complexity of this project require some changes to the natural environment – but we are planting much more in terms of high-quality tree numbers and shrubs than we are removing over the course of the project.  
Next year, our work in Area 4 and Area 5 continues to create the Hallen Marsh and Northwick Wetlands across 80 hectares of land as locations for wildlife to thrive. We will:  
  • Construct new ponds, areas of shallow water, and ‘high-tide roosts’ for birds; 
  • Start to plant a combined total of two hectares (equivalent to about three football pitches) of native, mature species of trees, including silver birch and hornbeam, and shrubs. We estimate planting a significant number of trees as part of our tree replacement programme that could last for centuries. 
There is a line of hybrid poplar trees along the Severn Way footpath near Northwick. These trees are about ten years away from the end of their expected lifespan of approximately 40 years. The trees in this location prevent us from constructing the new, larger flood defence embankment south of Cake Pill outfall which is why our approved planning application covered their removal. We will start to replace the poplars with high quality, longer living, native species, to be planted on a raised bank behind the location of the existing poplar trees and protected by the new flood defence embankment, later next year. 

Unlocking future economic growth 

A key purpose of the flood defences is to enable the mix of industrial and former industrial areas and greenfield sites in ASEA to become viable for commercial development and generate 12,000 new jobs by 2026. You can find out more about this potential opportunity in our short video. 

Contact us  

Tony Bajjada is the Public Liaison Officer for the Project. Tony is based on site to address any queries about the project for stakeholders, residents and members of the public. 
Contact Tony at ASEA.PLO@BAMNuttall.co.uk 
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