PICTURED: Huge new flood defences going up at Sandwell Valley

Towering concrete defences at Sandwell Valley Country Park are now in place that will stand in the path of flooding from the River Tame.

The ‘outlet structures’ stand at 26-feet tall and will have heavy duty gates, each measuring about 10ft by 10ft, that will close when the river level gets too high.

The gates stand at the Witton end of the river and will help protect homes in Witton, Great Barr and Perry Barr.

The Environment Agency is behind the £42.3 million project in partnership with Birmingham City Council and the scheme will be finished by September next year – and will reduce the risk of flooding in Sandwell Valley and protect Forge Mill Farm from damage.

The river has been diverted for the huge structures to be craned into place.

Once complete the gates will also protect the popular Sandwell Valley Country Park in West Bromwich, which attracts thousands of visitors a year and Forge Mill Farm on the site.

Environment Agency bosses said much of the structures will be disguised by grass embankments and other landscaping works although admitted they will ‘have a significant visual impact’ on the surrounding area.

The plans were given the go ahead by Sandwell Council bosses in 2017 and work started immediately.

EA chiefs have admitted the project will ‘have a significant visual impact’ on the surrounding area, but said its safety benefits outweigh the drawbacks.

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: “A number of properties do look out over the working area of the outlet structure, but visual impact was considered as part of the planning application for the scheme.

“Once the outlet structure is complete, it will be covered over by a grass embankment with a footpath over it, so will not look too out of place.

“The footpath over the outlet connects the two communities on either side of the river and is generally seen as a positive long term gain.

“We’re also carrying out landscaping works, to include woodland and hedgerow planting and improvement of landscape quality through management of existing grassland and woodland areas. We’re working hard to keep any disruption to a minimum, but there are only a few properties directly affected as the work is taking place in Sandwell Valley Country Park.

“Most neighbours we talk to are supportive, especially when they hear that it will help reduce the flood risk to nearly 1,400 properties downstream, and when they see the impact flooding can have to people’s lives.”

Around 25 nearby residents visited the site this week, and a local community group will also be visiting soon to view the work so far.

The flood storage reservoir is about eight kilometres upstream of Witton, and will work to collect any flood water that could flow down and cause damage to homes, gardens and companies.

Thousands of visitors each year visit the beauty spot and the farm near the RSPB lake, which neighbours the River Tame. The plans include expanding defences in the Sandwell Valley including earth embankments where water can easily run off.

These areas will be created near the Forge Mill Farm. Current embankments will also be improved and river outlets created. And improved flood wall defences are being constructed near the farm itself.

Workers plan to build a low-level wall through Witton, combined with an increase in storage capacity at the existing Forge Mill flood storage area in Sandwell Valley. The main part is a 26-feet tall outlet structure, that will feature gates that will close when the river level gets too high.

The river rises in Willenhall and Oldbury and runs through Sandwell Valley, passing through Great Barr and Hamstead before going off to Perry Barr.

The agency has evaluated that the River Tame has a one per cent – 1 in 100 – or greater chance of flooding each year.

Councillor Maria Crompton, cabinet member for safer communities, said: “The Environment Agency is undertaking vital flood defence work in Sandwell Valley to prevent the River Tame flooding homes further down-stream. Although Forge Mill Lake was designed as an overflow in the 1980s, in recent years we have had more extreme weather meaning the lake is no longer large enough to cope with very heavy rainfall.

“As part of this project, we will see improvements to a number of our woodland sites, and new paths will be created enabling a new crossing point across the river.”