FAQs

The StARR project aims to manage flood risk in the area. It consists of different measures to help store and manage the flow of water through the Par River catchments to make it an even better place to work and live. For an overview of the whole programme please see the StARR project web page at: www.cornwall.gov.uk/starrproject 

Yes, flooding has occurred within the area since records began in the early 1900s.  A comprehensive study has been carried out to investigate the impact of flooding based on more frequent storms and the impact of climate change.

A community survey undertaken by the St Blaise Neighbourhood Plan identified flooding as a key issue within the area.  A public engagement event was  held in April 2018. Feedback from the event demonstrated support for the project, with 88% of attendees stating they would support investment to reduce the majority of flood events, knowing there will be short term disruption during the construction phase.

The table below shows the flooding events and locations:

Par and St Blazey are prone to 3 types of flooding:

Surface Water flooding – when rainwater doesn’t drain away through the drainage systems or soak into the ground and lies on or flows over the ground.

River Flooding – “fluvial” flooding occurs when excessively heavy or prolonged rainfall causes a river or stream to exceed its capacity and overtop its banks.

Tide-locking – flooding occurs when a high tide causes water to back-flow up the Par River, St Blazey Stream and Polmear Stream, particularly when flow levels in those watercourses are high due to intense or prolonged rainfall in the catchment.

Many of the homes, businesses and infrastructure of the towns sit in the bed of a former estuary. The natural river has also been raised up and split in two to drain through the town in the form of the River Par and Treffry Canal which adds to the flood risk.  Mining waste has built up and raised the level of the ground.

a) Historic causes:

This map from 1539-40 shows how the original river estuary extended up to Luxulyan.  The river was already silting up by the 16th century due to historic tin mining and this was exacerbated by large scale mining and china clay quarrying in the 19th century. Par was built on the silted up river bed and St Blazey on sea sand.  Station Road lies on the old river bed and the site of Par Green was once a saltwater fish pond. Another legacy of mining and china clay quarrying is that many of the watercourses in the area were altered by diversion and mine drainage.

b) Local flood causes within Par and St Blazey:

c) Catchment-wide flood causes

The Par River catchment collects water across a large area (see blue line on map below) from Roche and Bugle in the west and as far north east to the A30 near Bodmin.  Activity across the whole catchment affects the flow and quality of water in local streams and rivers. For instance, vertical ploughing of hilly fields can cause flooding and water quality problems further downstream.

d) The perched watercourse: section showing flood risk from perched watercourses

Find the flood risk for your area on this Government map

You can use the drop-down arrow at the top left of the mapping page to see the risk from rivers and the sea, surface water and reservoirs.

A “one in 20” year event has a statistical chance of happening once in 20 years on average, or rather a 5% probability of happening in any given year. Theoretically, this could happen next year or in 20 years’ time. It could happen more often or less often, but has a 5% or 1 in 20 likelihood of happening in any one year. These statistics are based on past measurements and do not take into account a moving baseline due to climate change.

Flooding has been happening in this community for a long time. Flood defences installed since the 1970s have reduced the risk, but only for 1 in 5 and 1 in 20 year flood events. Parts of the existing system are ageing, close to capacity and at risk of failure. 

Climate change is increasing the likelihood of more extreme rainfall events, coastal storms and sea level rise. Our coastline is also changing due to natural erosion. Over the next 100 years Par Beach is projected to retreat inland by 100m. “Managed Realignment” will be needed at Par Docks by 2025 to adapt to sea level rise and by 2055 at Par Sands to adapt to coastal erosion. See the Cornwall and Isles of Scilly Shoreline Management Plan.

Yes.  Cornwall Council declared a climate emergency in January 2019. Climate change is causing more intense storms, rising sea levels and extreme flooding. Cornwall is particularly susceptible to flood risk and coastal erosion. You can read more on Cornwall Council's climate change website.

Many of the homes, businesses and infrastructure of the towns sit in the bed of a former estuary. The natural river has also been raised up and split in two to drain through the town in the form of the River Par and Treffry Canal which adds to the flood risk.

There is an existing flood defence scheme in place in the town which is working to keep your home from being flooded – this includes flood banks, walls, sluice gates and reservoirs. However, that scheme is now getting old and in need of maintenance. In addition, the risk of flooding has increased in some places, so the existing scheme needs to be updated. This is happening as part of the StARR Project.

Some assets are in poor condition, for example a section of the stone wall that contains the Par River slumped at Ponts Mill in the summer of 2019 and was repaired by Cornwall Council and the Environment Agency.  Another section of wall that contains the Par River and supports the railway line collapsed in early November 2019 causing significant disruption; emergency repair work was carried out by Network Rail.

Historically this area has flooded, with the last major event taking place in 2010.

The StARR project aims to reduce flood risk in the short term but the risk of flooding can never be fully removed.

The Flood and Water Management Act 2010 requires Sustainable Drainage Systems. Developers must demonstrate a drainage strategy for their developments that does not increase the current rate of field runoff, up to and including a 1 in 100 year event.

In addition, the area west of St Blazey is a “critical drainage area” (CDA), meaning any new developments upstream of the CDA must be designed to avoid any harmful downstream impacts and, preferably, to reduce the risk.

Under Section 106 of the Water Industry Act 1991, all home owners can have foul and surface water from their property connected to the public sewerage system. Before South West Water will grant permission to discharge to the combined sewer they review the hydraulic capacity of the combined sewerage network and require building control approval. 

Flood risk can be managed (but never fully prevented) by slowing down and controlling the flow of water through the catchment. Due to the complexity of the area the StARR project uses a number of different methods to help achieve this. These include:

a)     Use of green spaces to temporarily store water during extreme rainfall.

b)     Slowing water down by routing it through vegetation (contour tree planting, rain gardens).

c)      Reinstating low spots to enable water to follow its natural course.

d)    Removing barriers between the river and its natural floodplain.

e)  Changing existing flood infrastructure.

f)   Keeping watercourses, drainage features and the combined sewer network free from blockages.

The StARR project aims to reduce flood risk to over 450 homes and businesses in Par and St. Blazey. The project will also repair existing defences which help to protect many more.

The community of Par & St Blazey will have improved flood protection contributing to the potential for economic growth.  Furthermore, key transport infrastructure will be better protected as a result of the works such as the A390 and rail network. 

Dredging is an important part of our river maintenance programme. We consider each location carefully and do it where we know it will make a difference. Understanding where dredging will and won’t reduce flood risk is key. 

Dredging is unlikely to be effective in isolation, but it can be part of a solution involving multiple interventions.  The document below gives more information about the practice of dredging:

Floods and dredging report

We use consultants to help us produce the evidence needed.

They use:

1)     ground measurements and measure the river flow

2)     reports and photographs from previous flood events

3)     computers to predict where the water will go

No, this project only aims to provide a short to medium term solution of about 25 years.

Cornwall Council will commission a consultant to produce a long-term plan for the area in consultation with representatives of the community, such as those who have developed the Neighbourhood Plans.

This answer is being reviewed.

We cannot guarantee that house prices will be affected.

The partners are Cornwall Council, the Environment Agency, South West Water, Westcountry Rivers Trust and the University of Exeter

Cornwall Council and the Environment Agency are leading the project.  Cornwall Council is responsible for developing the surface water elements (on the highway) as well as the upper catchment elements and the Environment Agency is responsible for the main river elements of the project.

South West Water are one of our delivery partners within the project and are making a contribution towards the overall cost.  

We are working with local Neighbourhood Plan groups to look at the long-term plans for the area. 

To be added

The overall budget allocated from the project in £32m.Some funds are allocated for future maintenance.

Funding has come from a number of sources. £7.8 Million of funding from the England European Regional Development Fund (ERDF), £10.8m from the UK Government Department for the Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (DEFRA) Growth Funds, £12m of Flood Defence Grant in Aid, the University of Exeter, South West Water and a £2m match funding contribution from Cornwall Council.

Over the last few years there have been extensive hydraulic modelling, surveying and ground investigations taking place within the area which are helping to inform the final design. 

Generally, all schemes will improve the storage, drainage and management of water through the catchment area.  This is achieved by refurbishing existing assets on the main river, creating new attenuation features, re-naturalising floodplains, re-profiling the highway to divert surface water and planting trees to improve drainage.

Landscape Architects will be involved to ensure the measures will enhance the landscape, taking account of the natural and historic value of the area.

Projects of this scale and complexity using multiple funders take a significant amount of time to develop and deliver.  There are a number of different delivery partners involved and each must have an input in order to progress the project.  Funding had to be secured to deliver the works meaning the project had to stop and start as funding was released.

Work is planned to begin this summer, 2020.

The project is due for completion in 2023.

For Cornwall Council’s work, design consultants Cormac Solutions Ltd (CSL) and their partners, Aecom, have submitted 2 of the 3 urban infrastructure planning applications and are developing the detailed design for each of the schemes.  Some of the project measures are more complex than others, therefore it is likely that the local infrastructure works will be developed and started on site first, with the more complex major schemes being developed later.  The Environment Agency have submitted their planning application for the main river work and are now preparing the contract documents. 

Construction work to strengthen the river bank at Ponts Mill will start in August 2020.

The majority of local information has already been gathered from community groups and previous consultation events and we believe that we are addressing the known issues that fall within the scope of this phase of works.  However, if you wish to send us any further photographs or information to keep as part of the historical records, please send information by email to starr@cornwall.gov.uk. 

Members of the public and/or community representatives contributed to:

• a pre-funding public engagement event (held in April 2018)
• a post-funding public engagement event (held in June 2019)
• a pre-planning consultation event (held in November 2019) – a community working group helped to shape what the infrastructure schemes could look like at each site.

You will also be able to share your views:

• In response to the formal planning applications (2020).  The applications will be submitted to Cornwall Council and you can search for them on the Cornwall Council planning portal.
• On the Environment Agency's consultation page: https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/dcis/st-austell-bay-resilient-regeneration-starr-projec/
• At the post-planning Public Exhibition
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

Yes, the majority of the proposals will need full planning permission and will therefore be presented formally as part of the planning application.

We know that the community is at flood risk and therefore it is the duty of Cornwall Council and the Environment Agency to investigate how to manage flood risk. All works are procured under EU law to ensure best value for money. Not taking action will result in increasing costs to taxpayers for repairing flood damage to public infrastructure.

You can look at the Environment Agency’s consultation page:

https://consult.environment-agency.gov.uk/dcis/st-austell-bay-resilient-regeneration-starr-projec/

It is true that the Highway Dam will be taken away in the summer of 2023. This is being done for a number of reasons:

1)    Having a flood storage area such a long way down the river means that it actually does not give as much flood benefit as you would think. It would already be full of water by the time you need it to hold water from a really big flood.

2)    In a really big flood, having such a large volume of water stored up behind an artificial dam which relies on a railway embankment  is a danger in itself – should the dam collapse, a large body of water could rush through the town with very little warning. 

3)    For the very low food risk benefit that the dam currently offers, it is very (disproportionately) expensive to monitor and maintain. We are far better off improving the other defences and warning systems instead

4)    The new defences further downstream around the St Andrews Road bridge area and beyond will mitigate for the removal of the dam structure

5)    As part of the work to remove the dam structure, we are also reviewing our flood warning service for the area so that in unfortunate event of a flood, we will be able warn local residents more effectively.