River Thames Project

Enplan had been Landscape Lead within a multi disciplinary consultancy team for the planning and delivery of capacity improvements along the Staines to Teddington section of the River Thames, responsible for the Landscape and Green Infrastructure planning and design.

The Development Consent Order project includes approximately 8km of new flood relief channels and enhancements to three existing weirs, aiming to reduce flood risk for around 11,000 homes and 1,100 businesses. The Landscape and Green Infrastructure proposals include a 5.5km Active Travel Route, new parks and open spaces and 2 new bridges over the Thames.

The three new channel sections weave through a complex suburban landscape of open fields, gravel pits, contaminated land, and former landfill sites, intersected by motorways and railways.

The landscape vision is to create a connected network of wetlands rather than a series of isolated river channels between lakes. Where space permits, the new channels will be widened to support biodiversity, enhance the landscape structure, and provide greater opportunities for public access and recreation. Excavated material will be reused for constructing substantial flood embankments, with any surplus potentially forming new landforms to screen adjacent, less compatible land uses.