'This is the worst I've ever seen!' Gobowen residents hit by flash floods call for action to protect village
Gobowen residents who have seen two flash floods in two weeks are calling for more to be done to protect their village.
During recent bouts of heavy rain, Gobowen residents have seen water pour into people’s homes, saturate the railway line, cut off the centre of the village and impact local businesses.
Some residents even had to be evacuated during Storm Darragh by firefighters using a boat.
Villagers claim that water is draining off nearby fields, overflowing a nearby stream and culvert, flowing down the B5069 and right into the centre of the village.
On Wednesday, residents met with North Shropshire MP Helen Morgan to share their experiences in the hopes that more could be done to improve the village's resilience in time for the next downpour.
"All of us are finding it very difficult," said one resident, who claimed the road became a "canal" during storms.
She added: "It affects all the businesses here, the transport and the travel from Shrewsbury and Wrexham. It's becoming very, very difficult for people's everyday business life and home life."
"I've lived in the village for 40 years," another said. "They've had flooding before but it's got progressively worse - this is the worst I've ever seen."
Ms Morgan said that "urgent action" needed to be taken before the next storm.
Helen Morgan MP said: “This flooding is causing a huge amount of distress, danger and damage to homes and businesses in Gobowen.
“Locals are understandably upset after being flooded twice in two weeks. Urgent action needs to be taken to improve the drainage and protect the community before the next storm arrives.”
Shropshire Council has since confirmed that investigations have been underway, and it will be reaching out to riparian landowners - those who own land next to, or under a watercourse - to ensure flow is maintained during storms.
The council also saidits teams are "exploring opportunities" upstream of the village to help with the issue in the longer term.
John Bellis, flood risk manager at Shropshire Council, said: “Following the recent flooding in Gobowen, Shropshire Council have been undertaking investigations into the condition of watercourses and surface water systems that run through the town.
“The watercourse causing the flooding in Gobowen has an upstream catchment of 9km² discharging to a channel with limited capacity, and there are a number of engineered restrictions where the watercourse meets transport infrastructure along its length.
“Following the recent investigation, Shropshire Council will be contracting riparian landowners to ensure that the watercourse is well maintained and conveying as much flow as possible during storm events.
“In the longer term, the council are also exploring opportunities for a modelling study to identify opportunities for the creation of flood storage and natural flood management measures upstream of Gobowen.
“The council are keen to work with the community and landowners on this project as it develops.”
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