Footpath temporarily closed as project work continues
August 23, 2021: A popular footpath on the lower Otter estuary will be closed for several weeks as vegetation clearance and the creek excavation stage of the work gets under way. Click here for details
The case for the Lower Otter Restoration Project
We’ve put together a briefing note for councillors and other stakeholders about the project, its background and what it hopes to achieve. Click here to read
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Contacts
Tell us what you think
To contact the Lower Otter Restoration Project, click here.
Project briefing
Q&A
Answers to the most frequently asked questions about the project are available here.
Environment
Environmental Statement To see the Lower Otter Restoration Project Environmental Statement, click here.
Otter Estuary timeline: hundreds of years of change
We are currently in phase three of the project. The first exploratory phase began in July 2014 and continued until late 2016. The objective of phase one was to decide whether a managed realignment project was conceptually possible and worth seriously considering for the Lower Otter Valley.
Once we believed that was the case, the initiative moved to a second phase, which involved securing funding from a range of sources to allow detailed evidenced-based investigations to be undertaken. This phase concluded that a socially, technically, environmentally and financially acceptable solution exists to preserve and improve the Lower Otter in the face of climate change. Designs for the managed realignment scheme were developed and shared with stakeholders for comment, before the project proceeded to the third phase.
Investigations during the second phase considered: the liability presented by the old local tip situated within the floodplain; the vulnerability of adjacent cliffs to erosion; ground level surveys to understand and model inundation throughout the zone potentially influenced by proposals; options to maintain and improve public access, including South Farm Road; options to relocate the cricket club; potential health issues associated with the project; and additional technical work required to understand the impact and feasibility of project options.
The third phase involves developing detailed designs and seeking planning and other necessary consents from a variety of authorities for the agreed proposals.
Should sufficient funding be available and the necessary permissions granted, the fourth phase of the project involving construction and implementation would start.
The phases of the project
Click here to see the expected implementation timeline
