Shropshire Star

£4.5 million 'demonstrator' schemes to help tackle Shropshire flooding woes

Details have been shared on £4.5m of schemes to try and tackle flooding disasters in Shropshire.

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Flooding in Shrewsbury in February this year

The county has been battered by floods four times since February 2020, and loud calls have been made to bring in measures to prevent homes and businesses facing ruin time after time.

Now "demonstrator" schemes in Rea Brook, Afon Cain and Guilsfield are going ahead, and will involve creating new nature and woodland habitats and work to enhance the waterways.

In Rea Brook, the project will involve nature-based solutions across the Upper Rea catchments around the Pontesbury and Westbury communities.

It is anticipated to include at least eight hectares of environmental enhancements and land-use change. The outline business case, to support the case for investment in delivery, is currently being produced.

Work at Upper Guilsfield Brook Catchment will be supplemented by the development of a farm hydrology tool to estimate economic impact of sustainable soil and water management on individual farm holdings.

Environmental enhancements will include improvements to 7km of watercourse, creating eight hectares of new, native woodland habitat, creating 1.5km of new, native hedgerow habitat, and creating five hectares of new wetland habitat.

A spokesman for the Environment Agency said: “The ‘demonstrator’ projects for the Shrewsbury area are part of ongoing work by the Environment Agency, in conjunction with our local partners, to reduce the risk of flooding in the Severn Valley.

“In July 2021, £4.5 million of Defra Economic Recovery funding was assigned to support ‘demonstrator’ projects at Attingham Park, Rea Brook and works in the Guilsfield, Camland and Afon Cain Brook catchments.

“The projects aim to enhance resilience in the catchment, increase water storage potential and reduce river levels downstream.”

The measures come after calls were made recently by Shrewsbury MP Daniel Kawczynski and business leaders for £20 million flood defences to be given the green light to protect homes and businesses in the Coton Hill and Coleham areas.

Mr Kawczynski met Rebecca Pow MP, the government's minister responsible for flooding, and Environment Agency bosses to discuss the issue at the end of May.

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