Council announces Plym Valley improvement work

A muddy, messy section of footpath along the River Plym will be getting dried out as part of a programme of improvements along the river valley.

A half-kilometre stretch of riverside path that runs from under the A38 toward the sewerage treatment works at Plympton is prone to flooding and during wet weather is often passable only with wellingtons.

Now Plymouth-based Four Seasons Landscapes will start work to clear the drains, carry out limited clearance work and resurface degraded sections of path.

Work starts on Monday 23 September and will take two weeks – depending on the weather.

Plymouth City Council is funding the work as part of long-term plans to create the Saltram Countryside Park and to restore the Plym Valley. The work is being delivered with the agreement of South West Water and in partnership with the National Trust and the Environment Agency.

Councillor Brian Vincent, Cabinet member for the Environment added: “The Plym Valley is an attractive destination and we want more people to use it. This stretch becomes a bit of a quagmire in bad weather and we don’t want people getting stuck!”

The Council is leading a partnership of organisations to bid for £2.3 million from the Heritage Lottery Fund, which looks at Plymouth’s past as well as looks to a greener, healthier future and aims to help celebrate the area’s industrial and mineral heritage.

Ideas include restoring important heritage features, improving access into the valley from surrounding neighbourhoods such as Efford, Estover, Plympton St Maurice and Plymstock, better promotion of the valley, involvement by local people in developing and delivering the project and training and educational opportunities leading to new employment and business in the valley based on tourism and conservation.

Other partners include South Hams District Council, the Forestry Commission, Devon Wildlife Trust and Natural England.

During the period of the works an alternative route is available via Marsh Mills and Plymouth Road.