Dredging King's Pond would cost £859,716 and running the River Wey through it £2.24m, Alton Town Council's papers show. The survey is open until 4 January.
Keeping King’s Pond as it is would cost about £860,000. Letting the River Wey run back through the site would cost about £2.2 million, more than two and a half times as much.
The figures are in the papers Alton Town Council published when its consultation opened on 2 November. They were not available when we first reported the two options in October. The survey closes on Monday 4 January 2027, and the council says no decision has been made.
What each option would cost to build
The estimates come from Five Rivers, the contractor the council appointed to design both schemes. They are set out in the council’s Estimated Project Costs sheet.
- Dredging Plus: £859,716
- River and Pond: £2,236,221
Both figures are priced for building in 2028/29 and include a 10% allowance for risk. They assume surplus silt is carted off site. VAT is left out because the town council can reclaim it.
Either option also needs a further £164,759. That covers:
- Stage 2 design, £78,417
- flood risk modelling, £11,647
- the planning application, £1,487
- tarmacking the path, £73,208
On the council’s figures, that takes Dredging Plus to about £1.02 million and River and Pond to about £2.4 million.
Where the money goes
The task and finish group’s line-by-line breakdown of Dredging Plus shows the silt is the biggest single cost. Dredging, drying, the silt trap and taking the sediment away come to £341,087, about 40% of the total. Removing the excess sediment from site alone is £113,878.
Dredging Plus would take out about 7,100 cubic metres of silt. River and Pond would take out about 4,400, because the pond would be smaller. The council’s maintenance paper puts the silt in the pond now at about 11,000 cubic metres.
The group’s River and Pond breakdown is also published.
The cheaper scheme costs more to look after
The running costs point the other way. The maintenance paper estimates the yearly upkeep of each option, before inflation.
| Item | Dredging Plus | River and Pond |
|---|---|---|
| Repeat dredging, spread over 30 years | £20,530 | £5,575 |
| Banks, planting and seeding (2.5% a year) | £5,923 | £7,701 |
| Clearing the weir screen | £12,000 (daily) | £1,710 (weekly) |
| Silt trap, emptied about every four years | £1,250 | £1,250 |
| Total a year | £39,703 | £16,236 |
The difference is mostly the silt. A full-sized pond keeps filling and would need dredging again. The paper asks whether the smaller pond in the river option “would really need to be done after 30 years with so little silting”.
How it might be paid for
The council’s sources of funding paper lists several routes. None is promised.
- The town council precept. The paper says the council “could choose to increase the precept to raise the funds”, possibly for a year or two.
- Selling biodiversity credits to developers. A 2023 report estimated about six units for the site, at around £30,000 each now, but the habitat must then be kept up for 30 years.
- Community Infrastructure Levy. The next bidding round is due in early 2027, and the paper says the money is usually over-subscribed.
- Grants, including the National Lottery Heritage Fund and Environment Agency water environment funding.
The paper says funders are more likely to back a river and wetland restoration than “dredging purely for maintenance reasons”.
What it means for you
- The costs are now in front of you. Every paper, drawing and cost sheet is on the council’s consultation page, with the survey link.
- Seven sessions are left. Briefings are on Monday 9, Wednesday 11, Sunday 15, Thursday 19 and Saturday 21 November. Drop-ins with the consultants are on Thursday 12 and Tuesday 17 November. Venues and times are in our first report.
- Comment on the designs, not only the choice. The council says changes can still be made at Stage 2.
- Nothing is built soon. The costs assume construction in 2028/29.
- Questions go to the council on 01420 83986.
The independent survey firm, Enventure Research, will analyse the responses. Its report goes to a full council meeting in late January.
Sources
- Alton Town Council, King’s Pond consultation, 2 November 2026 to 4 January 2027
- Alton Town Council, Estimated Project Costs (PDF)
- King’s Pond task and finish group, analysis of the Dredging Plus costing (PDF)
- King’s Pond task and finish group, analysis of the River and Pond costing (PDF)
- Alton Town Council, King’s Pond maintenance costs (PDF)
- Alton Town Council, King’s Pond sources of funding (PDF)
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