Looe Flood Defence and Regeneration Scheme

Final consultation events for Looe Flood Defence and Regeneration Scheme

Looe is one of the most frequently flooded coastal towns in the UK. Sea levels are projected to rise more rapidly due to climate change, increasing the extent, depth, and frequency of flood events.

We thank you for your continued support and participation in the Looe Flood Defence and Regeneration Scheme events so far.

We want to ensure that the project’s decisions reflect your aspirations and the needs of your community, so we invite you to share your views with us via our survey between 16 June and 21 July 2023.

Events are taking place at the Quayside Centre, West Looe, PL13 2EU, on

Friday, 16 June, 10 am to 4pm

Saturday, 17 June, 10 am to 4pm

Friday, 14 July, 10 am to 4pm

The in-person events detailed above will be the last opportunity to have your say and to speak to the project team at this stage prior to the submission of the Outline Business Case to central government.

Your presence and input will hold great significance for Looe for the next decades to come.

Please scan the QR code above to complete the survey, or alternatively visit www.smartsurvey.co.uk/s/Looe2023

For more information about the project please visit: https://letstalk.cornwall.gov.uk/looe-flood-defence

You can also contact us via email at LooeFloodDefence@wsp.com

The support of the community will be vital for the future of Looe.

We believe that doing nothing is not an option and we want to ensure that the decisions on the final scheme reflect the aspirations and needs of the community.

We hope that by providing further information about the challenges facing Looe as a result of climate change, the community will better understand its shared responsibility and will come together to strengthen Looe's resilience.

Environment

You can watch a short film

One of the reasons for Looe’s success as a tourist destination is its natural environment, its accessible beaches and clean bathing waters. Its coastline and rivers combine to produce an ecosystem which supports a wealth of biodiversity.

Looe is rightly renowned for its diverse environment. The challenge for the project is balancing a flood defence scheme which protects the town from frequent and severe flooding and damage over the next 50 to 100 years, with protecting the environment.

A significant amount of environmental work has been carried out for the project to date. This article provides a summary of some areas of interest, as well as outlining some potential mitigation and enhancement ideas which are being explored.

Background

Looe is fortunate to both contain and be surrounded by a number of environmental designations. These include, but are not limited to, listed buildings, a local nature reserve, an Area of Outstanding Natural Beauty and protected and notable species and habitat[1].

Furthermore, the mouth of the Looe River marks the boundary to the Whitsand and Looe Bay Marine Conservation Zone (MCZ) which extends from south of Portnadler Bay across to Rame and is designated for a number of habitats and species.

To better understand the baseline environment and to help inform any future Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA), extensive baseline environmental surveys have been undertaken over the last couple of years.

These include but are not limited to:

• Hydrodynamic Modelling (including Water Quality).
• Wave Modelling.
• Water Framework Directive Walkover Survey.
• River Condition Assessment Surveys.
• East and West Looe Electric Fishing Surveys.
• eDNA Surveys.
• Intertidal Surveys.
• Subtidal Surveys.
• Stalked Jellyfish Survey.
• Seagrass Surveys.
• Underwater Noise Survey.
• Acoustic Doppler Current Profiler (ADCP) Monitoring.
• Terrestrial Preliminary Ecological Appraisal.
• Bat Surveys.
• Heritage Walkover Survey.
• Contaminant Analysis.
• Landscape Viewpoint Surveys.
• Traffic Surveys.

Environmental Options Appraisal

The findings of the baseline surveys which have been carried out to date are being used to help inform the Environmental Options Appraisal which is currently being undertaken to support the Outline Business Case.

The Environmental Options Appraisal provides a high-level assessment of each of the proposed options for the project for a variety of environmental topic areas. These include Heritage, Noise, Landscape and Marine Environment to name just a few. Each topic will provide a score based on potential impacts during both construction and operation. These scores will be combined to provide a total score for Environment for each option and therefore an indication as to which options would be more or less favourable. The outcomes of this exercise will feed into the Outline Business Case along with other subject areas such as Economics and Engineering.

Environmental Impact Assessment (EIA)

EIA is a systematic process to identify, predict and evaluate the environmental effects of projects.

The purpose of EIA is to:

• Provide information for decision-making on the environmental consequences of projects.
• Promote environmentally sound and sustainable development through the identification of appropriate enhancement and mitigation measures.

Due to the existing designations and environmental conditions, it is likely that the majority of options proposed for the project would require an EIA, as well as potentially a Harbour Revision Order and a Marine Licence. The requirement for EIA would be determined following the Outline Business Case and confirmation of a preferred option.

Seagrass

The Whitsand and Looe Bay MCZ protects nine habitats and their associated species as well as offering specific protection to seven species of conservation importance.

One of the most notable habitats protected within the MCZ is Seagrass, which has been identified as one of the largest beds in Devon and Cornwall[1] and is listed by Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) as ‘maintain in favourable condition’ as a general management approach.

Due to its proximity to Looe, there is understandably some concern over any potential impacts of the project to this bed. While this is a legitimate concern, extensive baseline data has been collected to gain the best possible understanding of the environment. This data will be used to help inform the Environmental Options Appraisal as part of the Outline Business Case.

A number of historic datasets are readily available, however. To understand more recent baseline conditions the following work has been carried out:

• Estimating sediment inputs from the East and West Looe Rivers.
• A detailed drop-down video survey of the seagrass beds.
• A diving survey of the Seagrass bed.

In total over 500 points were surveyed using a 25m lattice for the drop-down video survey. This represents double the resolution achieved by the Environment Agency in 2019.

The below photos are from the diving surveys of the Seagrass bed carried out in August 2021.

Water Environment

Sediment Transport

Should a tidal barrier option be progressed, sediment from the Looe River would still be discharged to the sea when the barrier is open in all but predicted flooding events. Any sediment held up due to a barrier closure would flush again naturally when the barrier opens in the following ebb tide.

Should an option with breakwater structures be progressed, there would likely be some local changes to the flow regime and wave climate. Sediment samples have been taken in the vicinity of the harbour together with some numerical flow modelling.

Further work is now being carried out to assess the potential impacts of the project in more detail. This includes:

• Estimating sediment inputs from the East and West Looe Rivers.
• Determining what local scour/accretion effects could occur around any new structures - and then if this would impact (positive or negative) on the seagrass habitat.
• Determining if an option with breakwater structures was progressed whether increased wave reflection would affect the sediment mobility/seagrass habitat.

Tidal Levels

The project team has also carried out an information gathering exercise on tidal levels, tidal and river flow, and the movement of sediment along the river and the coast as well as carrying out ground investigations. This has included inspecting rock slopes near the river mouth under Hannafore Road.

A tide gauge was installed in the harbour to monitor water levels – here is a link to a film about the gauge https://youtu.be/TSrAFEf9zNA….

Water Quality

The Environment Agency tests the bathing water quality at East Looe from May – September. Water quality has improved in recent years, and it is now classified as good. You can find more info at Swimfo.

However, pollution caused by Combined Sewer Overflows (CSO's) into Looe’s bathing waters has been identified as a problem by South West Water (SWW) in the Fowey-Looe-Seaton Drainage and Wastewater Management Plan. Multiple spills were reported in the period 2019-2021. (You can read more here)

The project has the potential to reduce the impact from CSO discharges by protecting the ageing sewerage system and risks from flooding.

By reducing the risk of flooding and the risk of pollution caused by CSOs, the project would help mitigate the risks identified, and meet the aims of the following:

• SWW Storm Overflows Discharge Reduction Plan.
• Environment Act 2021.
• SWW Drainage and Wastewater Management Plan.
• SWW Vision 2020-2050.
• Government’s Ten Point Plan for a Green Industrial Revolution. A high density of blockages have been identified by SWW in Looe.

Mitigation and improvement opportunities

The project will embrace the ‘mitigation hierarchy’ with regards to environmental impacts. This centres around avoidance in the first instance, followed by minimisation, rectifying, reducing and then offsetting.

In order to achieve a successful flood defence scheme that meets the needs of the project brief, it may not always be possible to avoid environmental impacts. In these instances, the remaining elements of the mitigation hierarchy would be adopted to ensure impacts are reduced as far as possible when balanced against the overall need for the project.

Carbon

The design team are actively exploring ways to reduce carbon in construction and operation of the project in line with PAS2080 (the global standard for managing infrastructure carbon).

This includes:

• Build less - for example considering using existing buildings to store materials for operation instead of building new ones.
• Build clever – for example looking at lower carbon alternatives to traditional Portland cement in concrete.
• Build efficiently – for example using modern methods of construction to reduce waste.

Enhancement example

In addition to reducing carbon, opportunities are also being explored to provide environmental enhancements for the project.

A series of reef cubes supplied by a local Cornish company, ArcMarine, are currently being trialled off Banjo Pier. The purpose of these reef cubes is to explore ways in which the project can lower the carbon footprint of the project and boost marine biodiversity.

Each reef cube is made from a special low-carbon, marine-friendly concrete substitute, with nooks and crannies designed to create an ideal home for marine wildlife such as seaweeds, barnacles and limpets, as well as larger species such as lobster and crab.

You can view a film about the reef cubes here : https://youtu.be/BbwjUpsd1YI

If you would like any further information on the environmental work undertaken to date please email LooeFloodDefence@wsp.com

Check out this latest animation showing how flooding will affect Looe in 2070.

Stop press……

The Environment Agency have introduced a new way to make it quicker and easier for people to talk to them about flood risk – if you have a smart phone you can now use a QR code or send a text message to contact them.

About the Looe Flood Defence and Regeneration Scheme

Urgent action needs to be taken to reduce the extremely high risk of further coastal flooding and erosion in Looe.

The main aims of the proposed Flood Defence and Regeneration Scheme are to:

• Protect Looe from frequent and severe flooding and damage over the next 50 – 100 years, giving the community time to adapt to a changing climate
• Enhance the environmental integrity of the designated sites and water bodies
• Work to promote economic growth in East Cornwall by
  • Protecting key transport links
  • Protecting and enhancing the visitor and marine economy

By delivering a scheme which reduces the risk of flooding, attracts widespread support, secures all the necessary approvals and permissions, and is capable of being funded, we can protect homes, businesses and key transport links in and around the town, at the same time as enhancing the marine and visitor economy.

This is a major project which will have a significant impact on the town.

A number of different options have considered as potential solutions during the past 20 years. Following detailed consideration, only one – the tidal barrier scheme – was considered viable.

In July 2015 Looe Harbour Commissioners funded work to develop proposals for a new food defence scheme. The outcome was supported by 95% of local residents and landowners.

in 2020 Cornwall Council’s Cabinet agreed to support the development of the Looe Flood Defence project, allocating £2.3m from the South-East Cornwall Regeneration Programme.

In 2021 the project was awarded a £2.3 million Defra Flood Defence Grant in Aid grant. This is being used to complete work on preparing the outline business case– the next key stage in securing the Government, and other sources of funding, needed to deliver the scheme.

The scheme is being led by Cornwall Council and the Environment Agency. The partners are also liaising with a number of local organisations, including Looe Harbour Commissioners, Looe Town Council, Looe Development Trust, West Looe Town Trust, East Looe Town Trust, the RNLI and local MP Sheryll Murray to turn the proposals into an economically viable and environmentally friendly solution to the town’s tidal flooding challenges.

There was overwhelming public support for the proposals put forward by the Harbour Commissioners in 2015 and we want to work with the local community to shape the final scheme.

You can view a short film about the scheme below:

Current Timeline

• Completion and submission of Outline Business Case Summer 2023
• Finalising detailed designs 2023 / 2024
• Harbour Revision Order Application 2023 / 2024
• Planning Approval 2024/ 2025
• Funding decision 2024 / 2025
• Construction 2025 / 2028

You can give us your views on the proposals on our discussion forum. You can also email us at LooeFloodDefence@wsp.com