Malmesbury River Management Project

In June we met with members of the group from Malmesbury River Management Group to walk the tributary from the Chavenage estate that feeds into the Tetbury Avon. The aim of the walk was to look at potential ways to manage the waterway that will help reduce flooding in Tetbury and Malmesbury during periods of heavy rain.

The public footpath from Chavenage House to Tetbury follows a valley that is wet underfoot in times of heavy rain and culminates at Hermits Cave Wood.

Slowing the flow in tributaries and headwaters (Natural Flood Management) is a sustainable approach to reducing the arrival of floodwaters in downstream communities.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9dJtJy6BumU

Findings from our walk along Tetbury Avon

On our walk, we found that there were opportunities for planting trees and hedging to reduce flow along the valley.

It was heartening to see that some work had been done to introduce leaky dams to slow the flow but it looked as if they could do with maintenance.

 Beyond where we walked, the tributary runs through more woodland and then in a narrow stream along Chavenage road before meeting the tributary from Beverston and running along the valley below the Recreation Ground. From there it flows under Charlton Road to the Ford at Cutwell and on to meet the Tetbury Avon near the Sewage works. It’s possible there are further points along the stream where mitigation could be introduced.

Managing Tetbury's waterways - next steps for the group

We decided to approach the landowner to discuss what further measures could be taken to maintain the existing leaky dams and to volunteer to help with this.

We also met over coffee and discussed events to raise awareness of healthy river management, the first of which will be a talk in September - watch this space!

If you'd like to get involved with Malmesbury River Management, then let us know.

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