I WAS interested to read in your online edition that Coun Hutton has created a flood warden team. Given the history of flooding of the town centre, and Monkton Park in particular, and the likelihood that this will increase in future, this seems a reasonable thing to do.
However, instead of donning high visibility vests after flooding has occurred, wouldn’t it make more sense to take measures to prevent the flooding occurring in the first place?
It’s particularly ironic therefore that Coun Hutton seems intent upon pouring a hundred tonnes of concrete into Monkton Park, when the park is a crucial part of Chippenham’s natural flood defence. Not only does it seem wrong to impose a concrete skatepark on beautiful, historic parkland but doing so would undoubtedly increase the risk of flooding the town centre – something you would think Coun Hutton might be keen to avoid!
At present heavy rainfall is absorbed into the grassland and slowly released, whereas a concrete structure would result in much more rapid run-off of water into the river. The situation is made worse by the fact that noise consultants have apparently recommended a high wall to surround the proposed skatepark in an attempt to reduce the inevitable noise – more concrete and run-off into the river!
Presumably, the issue of increased flood risk (which I expect the Environment Agency will be very concerned about), and the many other difficulties that have been identified with this proposed site, were not fully understood when Monkton Park was selected by Coun Hutton’s Skatepark Task Group.
Perhaps now is the time therefore to face up to the fact that there are far more suitable locations for a skatepark in Chippenham and move quickly to selecting a realistic alternative – several of which are on offer – before it’s too late.
PETER BISHOP, Chippenham
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