AN Ulverston sewage project has come up roses after winning a civil engineering award.

The water quality improvement project involved building a 1,425-cubic-metre detention tank and combined sewer overflow on a congested and contaminated allotment site.

It carried off the Community Award at Friday night’s ICE North West Annual Awards dinner at the Halston Hotel in Carlisle.

ICE said United Utilities, with their principal designer GHD Livigunn and principal contractor KMI+, won the award for the way they worked with the local community to minimise the impact of the work, as well as “putting something back into the community.”

As well as tackling sewage spills, protecting local allotments and waterways, the project put £7,000 into a fund for local community groups that had been affected by the construction work.

Darrell Matthews, North West Regional Director of the Institution of Civil Engineers, said today: “The award reflects that care that the winners took while carrying out essential work to improve the local sewage system and protect the environment."

ICE said the full list of beneficiaries of the fund was impressive and “showed a great deal of care and a cooperative, helpful approach in working with the local community”:

l Crake Community First Responders, who needed more defibrillators and equipment

l Ford Park Community Group, to help people and families eat and learn together more sustainably

l Leven Valley CE Primary School, for new chairs

l Leven Valley History Society, to provide electronic systems for documents, maps and photographs

l Swarthmoor Community Group, to help refurbish the village hall

l Ulverston Inshore Rescue, to part-fund training courses for their volunteers

l Ulverston Rangers Football Club, towards the cost of renovating their changing rooms.

l Ulverston Town Council, for help to bring the £16,500 project to restore the town’s Grade 2 listed war memorial to a conclusion in time for its rededication on Remembrance Sunday.

Kevin Moody, Capital Programme Manager at United Utilities, said: “The whole team is delighted with this recognition. Creating an underground storage tank in a confined area was certainly challenging, but by working closely with the local community, we managed to minimise disruption.

“Our thanks to local people for all their patience during the project.”