DE-CULVERTING THE EMM BROOK

The Emm Brook runs alongside Molly Millars Lane in Wokingham between Finchampstead Road and Barkham Road .It was identified in the original FOTEB Management Strategy (published in 2005) that the culverted section of the river required de-culverting and that this would only be possible on the back of development. A timescale of 2012 was set for this by FOTEB .

The Area referred to was adjacent to Ashville Way and was the former car park and a factory area of C F Taylor. C F Taylor were an aircraft manufacturing company and Sheet Metal Workers who were in Molly Millar’s Lane from 1961 t0 1997 The site had also historically been a sewage works from 1899 to 1969. The sewage works included reed beds and a large pond. An extract from the 1933 OS map shows this

AShville Way 1933

 

In 2007 a planning application was put into Wokingham Borough Council by Cala Homes to build 230 homes on the now derelict site. As part of the development the culverted section of the Emm Brook was to be opened into an open channel across the site. This was to take the form of a sinuous alignment across the site with marginal shelves and shallow side slopes. A typical proposed section of the Emm Brook can be seen here. Emm Brook cross section

Permission was granted in 2009 and the works commenced. The pictures below were supplied to FOTEB by Cala Homes.

 

Channel restored Clearing the channel Culvert exposed