THE man leading the Salisbury River Park project has said the team behind it "were taken by surprise with how big the flood was" earlier this year. 

Several homes were flooded in Salisbury in January after heavy rain despite the ongoing flood defence work. 

The comments came in a meeting put on by the Salisbury Labour Party at Five Rivers Leisure Centre in which Andy Wallis of the Environment Agency provided an update to residents on the River Park Project.

The event on Monday, March 11 attracted much larger numbers than anticipated, with only standing room available upon the start of the meeting.

Salisbury Journal: Dozens of residents showed up to a meeting hosted by the Salisbury Labour Party in which Andy

Cllr Lynne Blackwood said she organised the meeting to address the residents’ needs she felt following the Ashley Road floods.

Environment Agency Project Manager, Andy Wallis began by reviewing the importance of the project in light of the fact there are only 200 chalk streams in the world, with the Salisbury landscape offering rare chances to see numerous aquatic species in one place.

Andy said: “There’s not many places you can do that, especially in urban areas.”

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One focus of the project is the balance of access to natural recreational areas for people with places for wildlife to live undisturbed. One way this was addressed was one side of the river being left without footpaths and cleared access for people.

Andy acknowledged significant drawbacks the project has faced, due to particularly inclement weather, including severe flooding.

Andy said: “In 25 years of doing construction, I’ve never had a worse year. We’ve gone from drought to flood in a way I’ve never seen before.

“We were taken by surprise with how big the flood was.”

Andy claimed that due to the completed works, the eight properties in the Ashley Road area that flooded were a fraction of the damage that would have otherwise been seen, with flooding in The Maltings avoided.

During a question-and-answer session at the end of the meeting, residents voiced various concerns, including the loss of willow trees and the opening of the town path.

Andy said the three willow trees removed were extremely unstable and the ease at which they were felled confirmed they were extremely unsafe.

The construction company Kier has also said the town path will be open in April and a large crane was due this month to move into place a large bridge that will provide the walkway from the coach park to the City Centre.