StARR Project Construction

After several years of development, planning and design of natural flood management and harder engineering measures to reduce flood risk to the community of Par and St Blazey, we've started construction at a number of sites in the area.

• To see the latest update for each site, please click on the links below.
• You can view the construction drawings on the Proposed Flood Schemes page or use the link to the right of this page
• If you would like to contact the team or find out more about the StARR Project, please see the links on the right of this page.

Ponts Mill, Luxulyan Valley World Heritage Site

Ponts Mill to the north of St Blazey is in a popular walking area in the Luxulyan Valley industrial World Heritage Site. In 2019 the historic ‘perched’ Par River breached its riverbank and Cormac carried out emergency temporary work to reinforce the bank to reduce the risk of flooding of properties downstream. Ecological surveys were carried out before vegetation was cleared and some trees felled to allow access; care was taken to minimise disturbance to wildlife. Felled trees were left on site to create wildlife habitat. Tree felling also revealed a view of the viaduct that had been obscured. After a winter of exceptionally wet weather, the riverbank was breached again; a design for a permanent solution was developed and construction work began in August 2020. Cormac strengthened the existing riverbank by building an additional stone bank against it and completed this before the winter. The area has been landscaped to enhance the ecology of the site and improve biodiversity, and an accessible seating area has been created. This work was completed in April 2021.

Please see the latest update in the news area below.

Par Lane Drainage and Rain Gardens

This work involves improvement of the highway drainage system in the Par Lane, St Blazey Road and Harbour Road area and construction of rain gardens along Par Lane. Cornwall Council Highways team have also co-ordinated their maintenance work with the StARR Project to carry out improvements and repairs to the existing highway drainage network and to resurface parts of the highway. Various types of traffic management were used to keep people safe.

The Par Lane Rain Gardens are one of the StARR Project’s ‘natural flood management’ measures. Rain gardens are bio-retention facilities with water-tolerant plants, designed to treat and slow down storm water run-off. During heavy rainfall, they will take and store rainwater and excess water from the road and slowly release it back into the drainage system. Construction work began at the end of March 2022.

Please see the latest update in the news area below.

A390 St Austell Pond and highway drainage improvements

This is the area of grassland next to the main road through St Blazey, with its flower-filled boat, at the Trenovissick Road junction near The Four Lords pub.
Example of an attenuation pond after heavy rainfall - Dolcoath

This work includes construction of a storage (attenuation) pond in the grassed area, installation of extra highway drainage, gullies, maintenance chambers and supporting pipework, and landscaping of the grassed area.

The attenuation pond is another of the StARR Project’s natural flood management measures. During heavy rainfall, the pond will take and store excess water from the road and slowly release it back into the drainage system.

Landscaping work includes:

• A wetland meadow species rich grass mix to diversify for nature and visual interest; this mix will cope with the ephemeral wet and dry conditions of the basin.
• Native species trees to diversify the site and frame the basin.
• A boulder stepping trail in the base to provide an interactive feature of natural play.
• Existing grass areas enhanced with bulb planting under trees with a range of species including Daffodils, Bluebells and Snowdrops.
• An extra bench by the basin to provide a relaxation and viewing point.

St Andrews Road – main river work

Work in the St Andrews Road area is the first of a number of improvement schemes along the main river. At this site, vegetation and tree clearance was carried out before bird nesting season to ensure that the flood defence river work could be carried out. The work includes:

• building a raised footpath in the park
• building flood defence banks by the river
• installing sheet piles to strengthen the riverbank, and
• landscaping the park area

The work also includes:

• installing bird and bat boxes and delivering other environmental improvements, and
• using leftover wood to improve seating in the park.

Contractor Kier have built their main site compound on land near St Andrews Road. The site office has been set up in an existing building away from the construction work. Please see the latest update in the news area below.

Bull Engine Park

A water storage pond has been created at the Bull Engine Park play area at Lamellyn Road, close to the Burrows Centre. This is another of the StARR Project's natural flood management measures. During heavy rainfall the pond will collect rainwater and take and store excess water from the road, and slowly release it back into the drainage system. Extra pipes were installed in the road and connected to the existing road drainage system.

Bull Engine Park before construction

Doubletrees School storage tank

During very heavy rainfall, surface water flowing down the A390 can make its way down the access road to Doubletrees School. The StARR Project measure here involves modification of the existing highway drainage network and construction of a large storage tank beneath the school carpark. Excess storm water will be collected in the tank then released slowly into the highway drainage system under the A390 after the storm has passed. Work started in April 2021 and was completed ahead of programme.

Please see the latest update in the news area below.