South West Coast Path will be temporarily detoured to make way for a new footbridge.
Budleigh Salterton Cricket Club’s relocation to a more secure area above the floodplain
The plan has advanced well over the dry summer. A road bridge that will carry tidal waters, the lowering of Big and Little Banks at the northern end of the scheme, and cementing the new raised and flood-free path of South Farm Road have all made significant progress.
Now that the Otter River and its estuary are once again connected to the historic floodplain via a breach in the existing earth embankment, the project is turning its focus to the very southern end of the site.
A 70-meter footbridge will be built over the breach to maintain the South West Coast Path, which is popular and significant nationally.
By raising the 900-meter footpath that runs from the entrance of the current Budleigh Salterton Cricket Club on Granary Lane to South Farm Road on the western edge of the valley, this will offer a more accessible, year-round route.
From September 15, 2022, to the breach’s completion in spring/summer 2023, a brief section of the pathway will be temporarily diverted while the footbridge construction is taking place.
A map displaying the South West Coast Path detour
The adjacent Budleigh Salterton Cricket Club will move to its new home at an already constructed and purpose-built pitch, beginning work the same week after finishing its final season.
This location is more environmentally friendly, will offer better amenities, and is no longer at risk of floods.
This indicates that a specialised team of arboriculturists will remove some of the surrounding plants from the floodplain and demolish the current clubhouse.
As part of the project’s planting effort for mitigation, any trees lost will be replanted.
Through this work, more than 50 hectares of mudflat and saltmarsh with abundant fauna will be created.
Environmental Agency official Dan Boswell said:
Our work to restore the estuary to its original floodplain for the benefit of birds, biodiversity, and people is beginning to take shape thanks to the steadfast support and patience of the local community and visitors to the Lower Otter.
The community values the South West Coast Path and the cricket club highly, thus it is crucial to us and the project that it supports their future and aids in their sea level rise adaptation.
Users will be able to continue using the area securely and with as little interruption as possible thanks to the temporary footpath diversion.
Visitors will be able to enjoy better year-round views of the surrounding natural habitats and the variety of wildlife that will be drawn to the restored wetlands thanks to the new footbridge and improved footpath.
The relocated cricket club’s new location will not only protect it from flooding hazards, but also enable a wider choice of neighbourhood services and activities.
The Lower Otter Restoration Project, which is being carried out by the Environment Agency in collaboration with Clinton Devon Estates and the East Devon Pebblebed Heaths Conservation Trust, creates intertidal habitat.
In order to share knowledge about the execution of climate change adaptation initiatives, we are collaborating with partners in the Saâne Valley in Normandy (France) as part of a cross-border effort called “Promoting Adaptation to Changing Coasts” (PACCo).
Through the Interreg V A France (Channel) England programme, the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF) and the UK government have jointly contributed £8.5 million to the Lower Otter Restoration Project (2021 to 2023).
Visit https://www.lowerotterrestorationproject.co.uk/projectaims.html for more information about the project.