Works to remove canal material nears completion

The build-up of material in Lowdwells culvert led to significant floods

Work to remove material from a culvert of the Grand Western Canal has almost finished.

The build-up of material in Lowdwells culvert, in Devon, led to significant floods at both ends of the culvert last summer.

The removal scheme aims to reduce the chances of nearby properties flooding.

It has involved workers taking out the rock and solidified silt one plastic garden tub at a time with some 40 tonnes removed by hand.

The culvert stretches for about 130m (430ft) and provides an important part of flood mitigation infrastructure in the area.

The joint advisory committee (JAC) said the focus had now moved on to making improvements to ditches and highway culverts to reduce flood risk in that area, according to the Local Democracy Reporting Service.

"Some hasty improvements"

The JAC said large amounts of silt runoff had led to a two-mile section of the canal and added that "some hasty improvements" had been made to a nearby housing development after the Grand Western Country Park manager raised concerns.

"But despite this, the problem of siltation of the canal persists," the JAC report said.

"Although some of the silt from the site has arrived in the canal via erosion into road drainage on Turnpike, the main issue is that the site drainage has been plumbed into an existing drain that runs to the canal from the adjacent 1990s Paullet development."

Mid Devon is cutting its contribution to the canal's budget by 15% for the next financial year.

It will now pay £38,250 annually, a drop of £6,750, while Devon County Council pays £76,000.