River Pang Realignment Project

Mend the Gap has funded the licences and permissions phase of the Pang chalk stream restoration and resilience project.

This project targets improvements to a rare and ecologically important chalk stream, the River Pang. 

Englefield Estate wishes to carry out large-scale restoration and floodplain reconnection works to enhance approx. 2.3km of river that has been heavily degraded by historic physical modifications. These include: 

1. Bypass of weir impoundment within the critical path and removal of two weirs to enable the free passage of fish.
2. Bypassing existing heavily degraded channel to increase channel sinuosity (“re-wiggling”) creating a natural channel profile and planform, increasing the amount of, and improving condition of, riverine habitat.
3. Bank re-profiling – lowering of bunded banks formed by historical dredging and shallowing of slope to encourage marginal growth and restore lateral connectivity between the river and floodplain, creating new areas of wetland habitats.
4. Restoring the confluence of a tributary stream (the River Bourne) to reduce silt and nutrient run off into the Pang, improve water quality and create wet woodland.
5. Installation of large woody debris to increase channel sinuosity, reinstate a meander sequence and improve channel conditions.

This work would improve the resilience of the Pang to low flow conditions through restoration of natural processes, while providing natural flood management features, increasing flood water storage on the reconnected floodplain and slowing flood flow towards the communities of Tidmarsh and Pangbourne. This aims to cushion the chalk stream environment and help protect downstream communities against potential climate change effects. 

Physical works and ecological monitoring will be undertaken by approved environmental contractors, alongside volunteers and citizen scientists from the local community. 

Development of the project is necessarily complex, requiring a full planning application, EA Bespoke Environmental Permit (FRAP) and Ordinary Watercourse Consent. These depend upon supporting information prepared by appropriately qualified consultants. 

Mend the Gap will fund the surveys and detailed drawings required for the estate to submit their planning permission application and gain their Environment Agency consents.