We recently worked with the Goodwood Estate to host two community engagement drop-in events regarding our exciting river restoration project for the River Lavant.
These events were put on to provide further information to the local community about the project and offer an opportunity for local people to feedback on the proposed plans for the river.
The first event on 26th August was held in East Dean and the second event, on 2nd September was held in Singleton.
Louise, our Chalk Stream Resilience Officer for the Lavant, and Sophia, Goodwood’s Estate Project Manager – Sustainability, were on hand to explain the proposals for the project and receive feedback from the community.
The project - focussed on land owned by the Goodwood Estate between East Dean and Singleton – looks to restore 1.3km of the Lavant and 16.6ha of floodplain. You can read more about the plans here:
https://wsrt.org.uk/about/our-projects/river-lavant-restoration-project
https://media.goodwood.com/river-lavant-restoration-project/
Both engagement days were very busy, with an almost non-stop flow of people dropping in to find out about the proposals, view the maps, ask questions, and offer information. As well as members of the community from East Dean, Charlton and Singleton, we welcomed visitors from the villages of West Dean and Lavant, as well as Chichester – and some who had come from further afield to find out about the project.
We were delighted with the level of engagement and interest from the local community, and with just how many people really do love the Lavant!
Prior to the drop-in days, we also spent a day digging trial pits on the project sites with a wonderful team from the Goodwood Estate with a digger, archaeologist Mark Roberts, and Maddie Crabb from our river restoration specialists ‘For the Love of Water’ (FLOW).
The investigations helped us to determine the depth and nature of gravel deposits, underlying soils, and groundwater, and will help to inform the design of the river restoration works, including channel realignment and floodplain reconnection.
The next stages of the project are to work with FLOW to review the detailed concept drawing for each field and carry out hydraulic modelling. We will provide more updates as the project progresses. In the meantime, please contact louise@wsrt.org.uk if you have any questions.