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Shropshire Council has announced the completion of the first in a series of sustainable drainage systems (SuDS) to be implemented across the county. Shropshire Council is working in partnership with Shropshire Wildlife Trust and the Environment Agency on a project called ‘Slow the Flow.’ The Environment Agency has allocated £70,000 for the first year of the project (2015-16), which aims to capture and slowly release surface water before it reaches Shropshire’s rivers and causes flooding downstream. The funding has been allocated from the Agency’s Flood and Coastal Risk Management (FCRM) Grant-in-Aid budget.
In a press release, Shropshire Council said the first sustainable drainage system had been completed at Battlefield in Shrewsbury with the aim of reducing flood risk to the A49: “The project involved removing the traditional highway gullies along a length of the A49 and lowering the kerbs. Water flowing from the highway then enters a swale which allows it to naturally soak away. In larger storms, the swale fills up and holds water, before eventually overflowing back into the existing drainage system. The result is that much less water will flow from this area into the drainage system downstream which will, in turn, reduce flooding.”
Malcolm Price, who represents Shropshire Council as a Lead Local Flood Authority (LLFA) member on the English Severn and Wye Regional Flood and Coastal Committee, said: “This part of the project is an important first step and helps to demonstrate the council’s commitment to sustainable drainage measures and reducing flood risk. I look forward to seeing how the rest of Shropshire’s Slow the Flow project progresses.”
The Slow the Flow partnership is planning work in the Seifton Brook, a sub-catchment of the River Corve. The Environment Agency says the work will deliver an integrated approach to reducing flood risk to Culmington village and providing Water Framework Directive benefits. The Agency has provisionally allocated £350,00 to support a six-year programme which will extend the project into the wider Corvedale catchment. In a document published last month, the Agency says partner organisations will be responsible for securing additional funds to support the delivery of individual projects.
On the recently completed sustainable drainage scheme in Shrewsbury, Simon Jones, Highways and Transport Officer at Shropshire Council, said: “It is great to see the council demonstrating how sustainable drainage measures can be used effectively on the highway to reduce flood risk. We will monitor the measures at Battlefield, and look to install similar measures elsewhere around the county as part of our day-to-day work.”
1. GeoSmart has recently launched a new range of Sustainable Drainage System (SuDS) Reports. For further information, see our Reports page or give us a call on 01743 298 100.
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