Park remains open whilst works carried out

Published: 27 June 2022

Parts of Bull Meadow Park have had to be closed off to the public while work is carried out to repair a collapsed culvert.

The work, which is being carried out by R&M Utilities on behalf of South West Water, is expected to be finished by 5 September. Exeter City Council is part funding the work and has apologised for any inconvenience the repair works may cause.

The majority of Bull Meadow remains open to the public as usual. All surfaced paths through the park remain open as does the play area, zip wire and route past the cemetery to Magdalen Street. The pavement in Temple Road is still open as is the footpath from the end of Temple Road to Fairpark Road.

South West Water wrote to 200 households in the area to notify them of the works.

The culvert being replaced, runs from an existing manhole at the northern end of Bull Meadow not far from Magdalen Street, some 60m to another manhole at the northern end of Temple Road.

Part of Temple Road has had to be closed to allow for the works to be carried out. The Council arranged car parking permits to be issued to all residents who temporarily lost car parking spaces immediately in front of their houses during the work.

Due to the size and depth of the culvert and to minimise inconvenience to residents because of the need for parking restrictions for major deliveries, all the 1200mm diameter replacement culvert pipes were brought in at the beginning of the job and are stored on site. In order to preserve the structure of the top soil, the whole temporary working and compound area has been top soil stripped as is normal practice and is stored on site ready to be put back at the end of the job.

All the original hedges and trees have been fenced off to protect them from damage. At the end of the culvert replacement work the top soil will be put back and re-seeded but will have to remain fenced off for a period to allow for the grass to become re-established.