Cotterill (Civils) Limited have won a recent tender to supply all the 450mm and 600mm twin wall drainage for the Peopleton Flood Alleviation Project. A NATIONAL FIRST where villagers are building their own flood defenses.

Peopleton is the first parish in the country to manage such a project, which involves the excavation of a ditch, the installation of a road culvert and the laying of huge pipes beneath the village’s surrounding fields.

Cotterill (Civils) Limited have supplied in excess of a kilometer of large diameter twin wall drainage pipe amounting to 5 articulated lorry loads. The pipe was all manufactured locally by JFC plastics at Stratford on Avon.

Now well under way, the work is being carried out by Worcestershire County Council and a private contractor in the village who won the contract tender.

All the work is being supervised by Peopleton Parish Council’s floods committee, which appointed technical expert and villager Paul Dunne to help oversee the works.

Costing £150,000, parish councillors say it is the only answer to help stop a repeat of the 2007 flooding which saw 45 homes inundated.

 It marks a procedural change with Wychavon District Council delegating its powers to the parish in May. Diggers have now excavated a large trench in fields around the north end of the village, up to the main road into the village.

At the road, a culvert is being laid under the tarmac by the county council from its own budget.

Once the culvert is completed, contractors will lay pipes east in the direction of Norchard Farm on land owned by Samantha Lole.

It is designed to stop surface water running through the village’s homes and gardens. Councillor David Wall, Peopleton Parish Council chairman, said: “The parish council has worked incredibly hard to get much-needed protection for the village after the devastating flooding in 2007.

“It’s been a privilege to lead such a talented and dedicated team in a national first.”

He praised the “partnership” of Worcestershire County Council, Wychavon District Council and the Environment Agency, working together with the village and parish council to make the project happen.

In total, about £50,000 has come from the councils, Peopleton Parish Lands and Peopleton Autumn Show, with £40,000 in borrowing and the remainder made up by the county council’s culvert works. The scheme is expected to be finished in early November.

Cotterill Civils are delighted to have been chosen to supply this very much needed project and wish all the residents of Peopleton a flood free future.