Delay to long-awaited flood protection for 100 Southwell homes following Environment Agency objection

Long-awaited plans for flood bunds to protect over 100 homes have been delayed.

The plans, for the construction of an earth bund across Potwell Dyke, Southwell, and a hydraulic control structure to restrict the rate of water flow and prevent downstream flooding, were submitted by Nottinghamshire County Council and supported by Southwell Town Council.

However, they have now attracted an objection from the Environment Agency, delaying the work from being carried out.

The agency lodged a holding objection due to missing information in the application, for land off Church Street.

It requested that details of a hydraulic modelling assessment, topographical survey and future asset maintenance be provided for it to consider the application.

It is expected that the approval will face a delay for the information to be provided.

Neil Clarke, cabinet member for transport and environment at Nottinghamshire County Council, said: “It’s really important that we get the Potwell Dyke scheme right and we note the comments from the Environment Agency and will work with them to resolve their concerns.

“We need to make sure the scheme offers the best possible level of flood protection and that it can withstand the extreme weather we’re experiencing.

“We have already made substantial progress in Southwell, installing new gullies, modifying the existing bridge parapet on Church Street, fitting bespoke property flood resilience measures to over 100 properties, installing kerb drains to collect surface water into the drainage system on Lower Kirklington Road and completed numerous natural flood management schemes and landscaping works to help to control the flow of water downstream to prevent properties becoming overwhelmed during heavy rainfall.

“We are committed to making the community more resilient to flooding and will continue to work closely with the Environment Agency to address the questions raised and carry out further water level modelling.

“The Environment Agency fully encourages the scheme and the benefits to the community, and we hope to be able to start construction on the scheme next year.”

The plans aim to protect the hundreds of homes flooded following heavy rainfall in 2013, which faced a second disaster when Potwell Dyke burst its banks again in 2019.

David Martin, Southwell town councillor and a member of Southwell Flood Forum, said: “It is disappointing that at this relatively late stage the Environment Agency, who have been involved in the mitigation plans since the very early stage, have decided to put a holding objection to the plans for the land off Church Street.

“This is so that they can get further information about the original modelling on Potwell Dyke Flood Alleviation Scheme.

“It is apparently not expected to delay approval very long.”

Following approval, the work is set to be carried out by county council owned company Via East Midlands.