HARTSHOLME COUNTRY PARK – FLOOD
ALLEVIATION WORK – NEWS UPDATE
Background.
Hartsholme Lake is situated within Hartsholme Country Park,
a protected landscape, in an urban area to the southwest of
the City of Lincoln. The lake, which has a surface area of
approximately 10 hectares, is fed by the Prial Drain which
enters the lake from the southwest via a culvert underneath
the B1190 Doddington Road, and an assortment of surface
water inlets from the adjacent built estates. Water is retained
in the lake by an embankment dam to the northeast, with the
B1378 Skellingthorpe Road running along the dam crest.
The City of Lincoln Council has a long standing aim of
lowering the risk of flooding from Hartsholme Country Park
Lake to properties within the Birchwood Estate. The estate is
located to the southwest of the City of Lincoln and has some
history of surface water flooding during storm events. During a
flood event, the water level in Hartsholme Lake rises, which in
itself can cause flooding to the estate or may indirectly cause
flooding by impeding drainage from the estate.
The mitigation works.
To mitigate this flood risk low sections along the bank on the
western edge will need to be filled to achieve a level of 8.4m
AOD and re-profiled. This is the stretch of bank from White
Bridge to Black Bridge. This is to be done by installing toe
boards, raising the bank with fill material, or construction of a
bund on the lakeside of the path. The effect of this
requirement is a small increase in height in certain areas.
Once the bank raising work has been completed a more
accessible stone path will be laid on top from White Bridge to
the County Council’s link path from Birchwood Avenue
adjacent Black Bridge. The path will provide much improved
access to this area for all users, with significant improvements
for wheelchairs and pushchairs.
Trees.
To enable the flood alleviation scheme and footpath
improvements to take place the project will require some
works to trees. The trees affected are located on the west
bank of the lake between Black Bridge and White Bridge, and
adjacent to the public footpath extending some 240 metres
from Black Bridge to Birchwood Avenue.
The trees located within the bounds of Hartsholme Country
Park are not within a Conservation Area, nor are they
protected under a Tree Preservation Order. However, the
trees located adjacent to the link footpath extending from the
boundary of Hartsholme Country Park to Birchwood Avenue
are protected under the Doddington Road No 2 TPO 1981.
Of the estimated 2000 trees located in this stretch of
woodland 38 are required to be removed to facilitate access
for plant and vehicles and to accommodate the ground works
associated with the flood alleviation scheme and the footpath
improvements. A further 12 trees will require pruning in the
form of crown lifting to allow access to vehicles and plant
within the site. There will also be a need for shrub/scrub
removal. All of the works are being planed with reference to
conservation issues and following an Environmental Impact
Assessment.
Timetable for works and footpath closures.
The above tree work is expected to be carried out from the
19th October 2015 for 2 weeks, with potential for some
slippage into November subject to weather conditions. The
tree/shrub work will be carried out by the City Council’s
grounds maintenance contractor, and the working period will
be kept as short as possible to minimise disruption. This time
of the year has been chosen as it minimises disruption for
wildlife.
The embankment and footpath construction work will be
carried out by a local construction company, selected
through the City Council’s procurement process. This
work will take place 2-3 months after the tree work has
been completed.
For both the tree and construction work footpath
closures will be required. For the tree works the link path
from Birchwood Avenue to Black Bridge will remain open,
but for the construction work this link will be closed to
allow safe machinery access. Diversion plans will be
posted during both operations.
You can view the application form and plans online by visiting
the website www.lincoln.gov.uk under Living in Lincoln>
Planning and Building Control > Existing planning applications
and appeals, reference: 2015/0250/RG3
Should you require any further detail, or wish to discuss the
works please contact the Community Services Team on
01522 873423 or [email protected]