2 February 2023
Mixed-use: industrial, Commercial and Retail
Size: 12.6-hectare development
About the project:
M-EC were instructed to provide pre-planning expertise on various technical matters for a 12.6-hectare mixed-use development, which is set to deliver 18 industrial, commercial and retail units, including a Lidl and a Premier Inn hotel.
With parts of the site located in Flood Zone 3, the M-EC Flood Risk and Drainage team had to overcome various challenges to take the site from Zone 3 into Zone 2. This was achieved by raising the site levels and ensuring new development platforms were in place, and a sequential approach to the variations of land uses to ensure the more vulnerable areas, such as the hotel, were at least risk of flooding. The drainage design incorporated a diversion to the Cawdle Fen Main Drain and the provision of a new attenuation area located off-site to provide surface water storage. A wider SuDs strategy, which is landscape-led, was introduced, allowing for permeable solutions such as rain gardens and permeable paving.
To assist with the scheme, the utilities team undertook a utility assessment to confirm the available capacity and calculated loads to obtain costs for new services and any necessary diversions. Working with the UK power networks, extensive consultation was required to agree on a suitable diversion scheme for an overhead 33kV cable that crosses the development. Coordination with network rail was also necessary to obtain consent to divert existing drainage near the railway adjacent to the site.
The utilities team worked closely with the M-EC inhouse Geomatics team to provide underground Utilities mapping to locate apparatus across the development accurately; the Geomatics team also produced Topographical surveys for detailed design and Drone Surveys to determine and satisfy a ‘Right of Light Assessment’.
Previous Ground Investigations were undertaken prior to our involvement, so further intrusive studies were required from the M-EC Geo-Environmental team to delineate soft soils and determine a practical solution. The M-EC team provided an effective solution, moving away from piling and using more traditional methods, which provided a betterment for the development and fed into the foundation and superstructure designs supplied by the in-house Structures team.
In addition, work is ongoing as M-EC has been instructed to undertake detailed designs for the scheme, which includes; civil engineering, utilities and structures designs.
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