NEXT steps have been taken to build a barrier to protect 13,000 homes and businesses from flooding.

The £100m Bridgwater tidal barrier is one step closer to being built after a Transport and Works Act Order (TWAO) was approved.

The Secretary of State for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs (Defra), George Eustice, approved the order which was submitted in December 2019.

The TWAO grants powers to construct and operate the barrier.

Work on the tidal barrier, which will feature two moveable gates on the River Parrett between Express Park and Chilton Trinity, is due to start in 2023.

READ MORE: Work on Bridgwater Tidal Barrier to start in 2023

It is claimed that the barrier will provide better flood protection to 11,300 homes and 1,500 businesses.

The project is a partnership between the the Environment Agency and Sedgemoor District Council (SDC).

READ MORE: £114m in budget for Bridgwater Tidal Barrier

Rachel Burden, Wessex flood and coastal risk manager at the Environment Agency said: “This is a significant milestone for one of the biggest flood defence schemes in the country.

"This decision gives real confidence that the barrier is well on the way to be delivered and will help the town of Bridgwater and surrounding areas be ready for, and resilient to, flooding and coastal change – today, tomorrow and past the year 2100.”

The project also involves creating new flood defence embankments and making improvements to existing embankments on the River Parrett, downstream of the barrier.

Cllr Duncan McGinty, leader of SDC, added: “All partners have been working for many years on the preparations for this major engineering project and we are delighted that we are now one step closer to start of construction.”

As well as this, new eel and fish passes will be installed at up to 12 sites upstream on the rivers Parrett and Tone.

“This is great news," said Cllr David Hal, chair of the Somerset Rivers Authority (SRA).

"Before Somerset’s 20 Year Flood Action Plan was drawn up during the floods of 2014, the expected date for a Barrier in Bridgwater was 2046.

"The Flood Action Plan called for faster delivery by 2024. To help achieve that, the SRA has so far contributed £2.3million, including £2million of Growth Deal funding from the Heart of the South West Local Enterprise Partnership. It’s fantastic to see such a big, important project moving ahead.”

Bridgwater and West Somerset MP, Ian Lidell-Grainger, said the go-ahead for the barrage is 'hugely exciting'.

"The barrage has been occupying the skills and abilities of a great many people since it was first mooted in the wake of the disastrous floods in 2014,” he said.

“It is obviously a highly complex scheme and quite understandably concerns about its potential impact have been raised in some quarters. But those concerns have been taken into account as have the many, many messages of support for the barrage that have been received.

“I have been greatly impressed with the way all the agencies involved have co-operated as a team in driving forward a project which is going to protect Bridgwater and the local area for many, many years to come. I admire their energy and their enthusiasm – and their determination to formulate a response to the ever-present threat of flooding.

“The barrage will help to reduce that threat well into the foreseeable future and I know its construction will be very warmly welcomed by thousands of local families.”

The next steps for the tidal barrier include developing the detailed technical design of the scheme and carrying out further topographic, ecology surveys and ground investigations.

It is hoped the construction site will be set up in late 2022, to allow for the work to start in early 2023.