Members of a Cumbrian council have met with United Utilities to seek assurances over its plans to upgrade the wastewater network.
Westmorland & Furness Council members want to make sure that as much is done as possible to minimise the impact of work to create an underground storage tank.
United Utilities is upgrading 21 storm overflows across nine locations around Barrow and Walney, helping to reduce spills and enhance water quality in the Walney Channel, Irish Sea, and Morecambe Bay.
During construction of a new 3,000m3 below-ground storage tank in that location, some parts of the recently completed 1.4-mile North Walney cycle route may need to be temporarily closed or diverted and a small corner of Vickerstown Park could be fenced off as part of the access arrangements for the United Utilities work.
Councillor Derek Brook, vice-chairman of Furness Locality Board, and other Walney and Barrow councillors joined United Utilities representatives and Westmorland and Furness Council officers at the site this week, to look at the plans in more detail and consider the impacts on the local community.
He said: “The investment by is welcomed and we understand the need for these improvements. Anything that helps to prevent spillages and improve water quality is good news for Barrow.
“We were also encouraged that United Utilities is working closely with council officers to try to make sure any disruption to users of the park and the new active travel route is kept to a minimum.
“Since it opened in the summer, the new walking and cycling path has proved very popular and is well used, so we are keen to make sure that people can continue to access it as much as possible during the works.
“Things being discussed include ways to maintain the link for pedestrians and cyclists when any sections of the active travel route may need to be closed, the possibility of using some areas of council land to store materials on site to significantly reduce the number of vehicle movements and making sure people can still get to the bowling club.
“We are also pleased to hear that United Utilities is committed to making sure that, once they’ve finished the works, the area will be fully reinstated and they are also working with the council to look at enhancements, which could be things like more benches or extra tree planting.
“We would like United Utilities to do as much as possible to protect existing trees and we understand that they have also discussed providing extra parking for the bowling club, which will be welcomed by bowling club members, and they are talking to others in the area that will be affected, like the owners of the stables, allotment users and the Ferry Hotel and Marine Club.’’
United Utilities said the work on Walney will take 18 months to two years to complete.
People are invited to find out more at a drop-in event hosted by United Utilities on January 15 between 2pm and 7pm at the Ferry Hotel.
