MALVERN’S MP has called for swift action to find a new partner to build the permanent flood defence scheme at Severn Stoke after another contractor withdrew from the long-delayed project.
Worcestershire County Council agreed to take on the construction of the whole scheme including a bund and road raising work but contractor Tarmac has withdrawn its subsidiary company, Alun Griffiths Contractors, from the project.
The subsidiary of Tarmac has been withdrawn from the project due to a wider restructuring internally.
This follows the Environment Agency’s main contractor, Jacksons, also withdrawing from the project leaving the scheme unbuilt for another winter.
The county council and the Environment Agency both pledged to have work underway in the late spring and this latest news will be a huge blow to the residents and business owners in Severn Stoke.
Dame Harriett said: “Late last year, I was warned Alun Griffiths Contractors was withdrawing from county council construction projects, but I was promised the Severn Stoke scheme was safe.
“Last week, county council officers briefed me this was no longer the case and I urged them to put their urgent efforts into finding a new contactor to get cracking on the work as quickly as possible.
“This project has bounced between two organisations who have not been able to find willing contractors on their business framework but I’m sure these technicalities will mean nothing to the people who regularly flood in Severn Stoke.
“I’ve urged the county council team to do all it can to get a plan in place to get the spades in the ground as soon as practicable.”
Councillor Emma Stokes, Cabinet Member for the Environment at Worcestershire County Council, echoes Dame Harriett’s dissapointment on behalf of the council.
Coun Stokes added the council were too given ‘explicit assurances’ late last year that the contractor would be able to take on the construction work, should the scheme be assessed by the Environment Agency as being affordable.
The councillor added: “We’re urgently trying to secure an alternative construction contractor for the EA scheme in Severn Stoke and, in the meantime, we continue to work with the EA to continue completion of the scheme design, assessment of the material on site, materials planning, discharging planning conditions and making preparations for a seamless handover to any new contractor (subject to the affordability criteria of the EA).“
