Birchall Road site – Wessex Water work in the 1980s

In autumn 1986, Bristol City Council closed the lower part of the Birchall Road allotments site in order for Wessex Water to construct a large detention tank (aka attenuation tank) as part of a flood relief scheme.

The work to install 1.7 million gallon tank was to cost £1.25 million. The tank was needed to hold storm water from the overspill that often occurred from the Cutlers Mill brook that flows down parallel to Cranbrook Road. In the past this had led to raw sewage causing a public health hazard.

Many of the tenants were given alternative plots on the Golden Hill site while the construction work was taking place.

Once the tank was installed, the stream was also culverted so is not visible behind the houses as before. The area where the tank is located was covered with gravel and topsoil and was prepared ready to go back as allotments. It was not until the  Spring of 1990 that tenants were finally allowed to return to the site.