MP brokers meeting to discuss huge excavation of the Glebe at Bowness

On Friday, local MP Tim Farron brokered a meeting to discuss the work being undertaken by United Utilities at the Glebe in Bowness following concerns that key stakeholders had not been kept well informed about the work.

Work to extract thousands of cubic metres of rock from the Glebe will begin in September. On Friday Tim Farron MP called together representatives of Windermere Town Council, Windermere and Bowness Civic Society and Windermere and Bowness Chamber of Trade to meet with senior officials from United Utilities. The meeting took place on site at the Glebe and by the lake, and was chaired by Mr Farron.

Mr Farron wanted to make sure that local residents had their voices heard and so brought United Utilities along to explain their work. "The work at the Glebe is going to take 18 months and although it will undoubtedly lead to reduced pollution in the lake, it will also cause real disruption. We need to everything possible to minimize that disruption," said Mr Farron.

It is estimated that 5,000 heavy vehicle movements will take place over the 18 months as the rock is excavated to make way for a new sewage tank. The tank will mean that the number of discharges into the Lake will be significantly reduced. At its busiest, the work will create 20 vehicle movements a day. All the journeys will be routed along the A592 Newby Bridge Road to the A590.

While work is scheduled to reduce emissions in to the lake, there were no plans to fix the extremely unpleasant regular sewage leaks at the drain by the Tourist Information Centre on Bowness Bay. "Raw sewage often emerges onto the road and pavement here which is not only disgusting, but a threat to public health too," said Mr Farron. During the meeting Mr Farron pressed United Utilities representatives to agree to fix this problem while they are installing the new tank - and they agreed to attempt this.