EXETER residents are to be consulted this weekend on the next phase of improved £30m flood defences for the city.
Phase I, which includes making deeper the flood relief channel, is due to start in August.
Phase II which is the majority of the work, involves building walls, raising banks and de-mountable barriers for the Quay area, and stretches from Cowley to Countess Wear.
The design proposals include building flood defence walls behind Exeter St David's, replacing the de-mountable barrier in Station Road, Exwick with flood gates on both the east and west sides of the road, and de-mountable barriers as the river passes through Exeter's historic Quayside.
A proposal for a flood gate at Cowley Bridge has been factored into the total cost but is on hold as Network Rail is currently seeking a solution further up stream which may mean that the flood gate would not be needed.
Exeter City Council and Devon County Council are each putting £3m towards the cost and a further £19m is being provided by the flood defence grant-in-aid.
The Environment Agency was successful in its bid for a further £6m from the Government's growth funding.
But the growth funding meant that the work had to be accelerated.
Environment Agency's George Arnison explained: "We needed to have spent the additional grant by the end of this financial year, the Government wanted to see digging on site so we have accelerated the programme which has thrown up a few challenges.
"Phase I does not involve planning consents as it involves digging out around a metre of silt from the flood relief channel which obviously we have already got.
"What we dig out is going to be stored on Bromham's Farm playing field and will then be used in Phase II when we are building up banks."
Where there is space the designs favour banks and where space is limited walls with Mr Arnison pointing out that in many cases the improved defences would be unobtrusive.
Throughout the design process the Environment Agency has been working closely with both city and county councils.
The Environment Agency is expecting to lodge its first planning application for Phase II this autumn and would expect work to begin in the summer of 2015.
The whole flood defence improvement scheme will be complete by Christmas 2017.
The designs for Phase II will be on show at Exeter Guildhall on Friday, July 11 from 10am to 6pm and at the Royal Albert memorial Museum on Saturday, July 12 between 10.30am and 4.30pm and at the X Centre on the Quay on July 19 between 10.30am and 4.30pm.
