£45m River Park 'working well' despite flooding

A £45 million river park designed to prevent flooding is "working well" despite some areas being underwater, the Environment Agency has said.

Parts of Salisbury River Park are submerged in water which "could get even deeper" as 100 homes are at risk of flooding in the city and 35 flood warnings remain in place across Wiltshire.

"There are some paths that are currently underwater but that is deliberate", said Andy Wallis, the Environment Agency's project lead.

The River Park, jointly funded by the Environment Agency, Wiltshire Council and Salisbury City Council, was designed to protect around 350 homes by reshaping a stretch of the River Avon.

Since opening in August, the play park has already faced criticism for flooding, but Wallis said it is an area that is meant to flood.

He told BBC Radio Wiltshire while "a bit of money" had been spent on the project, it was "doing its job well".

"The whole purpose of the river park was to create extra flood plain, create extra space for water to flow into.

"So yes, some areas are flooded but they are the areas that are supposed to flood," he added.

It comes after the county has been hit by almost daily rainfall since the start of the year.

The council has urged people in the south of the county to check their flood risk, adding nearly all groundwater monitoring stations on Salisbury Plain and stretching down to Salisbury have warnings in place.

Salisbury City Council leader Sam Charleston said: "We believe levels have peaked over the weekend and we will be seeing them dropping over the next couple of weeks."

Charleston said the success of any flood defences is on how protected homes are, rather than paths.

"Right now despite one of the wettest Januaries on record, we have not seen any houses in the Salisbury area affected by any flooding," added Charleston.

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