PLANS have been submitted re-work flood defences in a rural area of Carlisle.

The Environment Agency has submitted an application for planning permission relating to flood defences in Low Crosby, a village in the Parish of Stanwix Rural.

If plans are approved by Carlisle City Council, the Environment Agency would reprofile the existing flood defence embankment along the River Eden.

The site is located on the opposite side of the river to the village in an known as Warwick Homes.

Material removed will be “redistributed of the removed material to reprofile adjoining land.”

In their supporting statements, the Environment Agency said that Low Crosby will also benefit from remedial works, cleaning out the existing drainage systems.

They said that the works will be carried out by other parties “to address known vulnerabilities.”

Those works are being carried out in addition to improvements set for Low Crosby in the Carlisle Flood Risk Management Scheme.

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Setting out the proposed changes to flood protection in Low Crosby, the Environment Agency said: “The Warwick Holme embankment will be reprofiled along most of the 3.2km length from Holme Gate Farm to the Castleshields outfall.

“There will be four sections of the embankment that will remain in-situ and will be tied into the reprofiled embankment and existing ground level to avoid trees, a high voltage pylon and the site of the former Castleshields Farm.”

The EA said: “Site-won material will be used to reprofile the embankment. Topsoil will be stored in heaps on the edge of the working area after being stripped and the embankment material will be spread across the landward side”

The embankment will be removed entirely where it crosses a paleochannel – the remnants of an ancient river – to allow re-connection to the River Eden.

They will then lower the riverbank to enable drainage into the River Eden and re-establish the natural drainage channel.

According to National Planning Policy, climate change is likely to have an impact on river flows and rainfall intensity, which are both likely to make events such as Storm Desmond more frequent.

The Environment Agency said that this would “exceed the capacity of the existing flood defence measures within Low Crosby.”

Low Crosby has a history of flooding as it is positioned on low-lying land. About 60 properties were flooded in the village during Storm Desmond in 2015.