Plans to realign river through Hemel Hempstead park in bid to limit flooding

The River Gade could be partially rerouted through a Hemel Hempstead park in an effort to address flooding, new plans have revealed.

Dacorum Borough Council has submitted plans through JBA Consulting to re-align part of the River Gade, which would see the river return to a more natural position when passing through Gadebridge Park.

The plans say a new 10m-wide sinuous channel will be created through the park from downstream of White Bridge to the Queensway culvert.

The council first started consulting on the proposals in 2017, and the application for planning permission appeared on their planning portal on January 24.

A planning statement submitted as part of the application outlines the need for development, saying human intervention has created an “over wide and frequently perched” channel, which has led to fine sediment being spread across the sides of the river.

The application said this has led to heavy vegetation growth along the banks which can creep into the channel and narrow the river, and now requires “continuous maintenance”.

As water spills out and down onto the parkland, the water can become trapped on the floodplain, which is why residents can see flooding in the park.

The developers say there had been an option to fully re-align the river by moving the channel to a natural position, but the partial re-alignment was selected as a preferred option.

This would move the river close to its natural position, while also keeping the northern portion of the park unaffected to host events and without impacting on the bowls club or current parking spaces.

The planning statement concludes: “The scheme relates to a partial re-alignment of the River Gade through Gadebridge Park to improve the long-term natural condition of the channel through the park.

“In addition, the scheme improves the contribution of the river to the amenity and recreational value of the park as well as the overall river corridor.

“Furthermore, the scheme increases the resilience of the river and surrounding flood plain in regard to the future impact of climate change and whilst maintaining the water quality during periods of low flows.”

The applicant said any negative impacts during the construction work would be “temporary and short-term”, and would be outweighed by the benefits of the scheme.

Residents can comment on the scheme (REF:22/00143/MFA) on the council's planning portal, until 14 February, and a decision on the plans is expected at a meeting of the borough council’s development management committee on March 31.