THE first phase of the £18m River Park scheme has been given the go ahead. 

Plans were approved at a meeting of Wiltshire Council’s Cabinet.

This scheme will deliver "significant flood prevention measures to reduce the risk of flooding for existing residents and businesses in Salisbury City Centre". 

This includes additional flood defences, improvements for leisure and recreational uses, plus ecology and biodiversity enhancements. 

The council say it will also enable the delivery of its wider regeneration goals for the Maltings and Central Car Park site and protect future development in the city centre - some of which have been put on hold.

The proposals are also being drawn up to complement the parallel People Friendly Streets Salisbury project.

Philip Whitehead, Leader of Wiltshire Council, said: “The Environment Agency have updated their flood risk maps for Salisbury which showed larger areas of the city were at risk of flooding and we would encourage residents to check if their property is affected by this change. Since then we have been working closely with the Environment Agency to explore what can be done to reduce this risk in the future. 

“Today’s decision means we can move forward with the first phase of an £18 million package of investment provided by the Environment Agency and Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership, to protect residents and businesses in Salisbury City Centre.

“The Salisbury River Park scheme is one of the first initiatives to come forward from the recently endorsed Salisbury Central Area Framework which aims to ensure the city has a more vibrant and sustainable future. It is also a key project in the council’s climate programme supporting our aim to make the county carbon neutral by 2030.”

The next steps include agreeing the terms of the £6.06 million Local Growth fund grant with the Swindon and Wiltshire Local Enterprise Partnership and increasing the level of grant to be forwarded to the Environment Agency to deliver the River Park scheme to a maximum of £6.06 million.

Later this month residents and businesses will be able to give their views on the draft Salisbury River Park Masterplan and the proposed flood risk alleviation infrastructure and environmental improvements that will form part of a planning application next year during a joint public consultation with the Environment Agency.

Construction work to deliver these improvements will inevitably impact upon the operation of the car and coach parks for a period of time. Cabinet approved measures to ensure these impacts will be appropriately managed and mitigated.

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