WIRRAL Council, and the partners behind the West Kirby Flood Alleviation Scheme, welcomed a special visitor this week.

Professor Anusha Shah, the incoming President and current Senior Vice-President of the Institution of Civil Engineers (ICE), visited West Kirby and met with members of the project team and congratulated them on their achievements.

The new flood wall at West Kirby is being held-up as an "exemplar civil engineering and coastal defence project", not just in how it has been designed, but also for how it was planned, funded and delivered and how local people and organisations were engaged and communicated with throughout.

Wirral Globe: Elizabeth Lowe (centre) alongside Marc Wood with their awardsElizabeth Lowe (centre) alongside Marc Wood with their awards (Image: Wirral Council)

Professor Shah was accompanied by ICE colleagues Emma Antrobus (Northwest Regional Director) and Terry McCormick (ICE Chair, Merseyside) and met representatives from the Environment Agency, Wirral Council, AECOM, VolkerStevin and DEFRA.

There were awards presented by Professor Shah on behalf of the Environment Agency’s Director of Operations, Steve Moore, to Marc Wood, VolkerStevin’s Site Agent who oversaw the delivery of the project on the ground, and Elizabeth Lowe, the Flood Risk Management Authority Programme Assurance Manager.