Engineers reveal safety deadline
Engineers from United Utilities have revealed that the weir and wave walls require essential maintenance and are under a statutory duty to complete the work by December 2028.
Project Managers Matt Buckley and Guy Lovell, met with local landowner Michael Falcon to discuss his concerns about the proposed re-routing of park Beck. Mike has expressed his deep concerns about the project. There have been extensive discussions with the UU team since the scheme was revealed in 2023 but this is the first time they have revealed this urgent work.
Reservoir infrastructure is inspected every ten years to ensure the safety of residents downstream. The last inspection of Crummock was completed in 2020 by Ian Carter of engineering consultants Stantec. The report is heavily redacted and was obtained by FOC under a freedom of information request. We have asked for the redaction to be removed but have been refused on the grounds of ‘national security’.
This new deadline could explain why UU and Natural England have refused to undertake a detailed full lake environmental assessments requested by Melbreak Wildlife Group. Crummock is one of the most sensitive environmental sites in England - a SSSI within a National Park.
United Utilities have said that there is no risk to the downstream communities of Low Lorton and Cockermouth. We ask that the Utility company is honest with the public if essential safety works are required. Cockermouth was devasted by floods in 2009 and 2015. The Environment Agency objected to UU’s future plans for Crummock as it did not meet their stringent tests for flooding.
