A flood defence scheme in Southwell has been paused due to the potential impact revisions to the design may have on a significant archaeological monument.
The Potwell Dyke scheme features a reinforced earth bund designed to hold back water during times of exceptionally high rainfall and was approved by Nottinghamshire County Council’s Planning and Rights of Way Committee in January 2025.
The decision to pause the scheme has been made after it was found that the proposed bund must increase in both height and length by 60 metres to be fully effective.
A scheduled ancient monument of significance in Nottinghamshire could be impacted if the bund was to increase in size, and so the county council will now seek further advice from Historic England to understand whether the revised design is likely to gain a new planning consent.
Other impacts of the new design would include the closure of a popular local footpath.
The Potwell Dyke scheme is one of a number of flooding measures which make up the Southwell Flood Alleviation Scheme and the county council will continue to work closely with local partners to explore alternatives to the scheme if it cannot go ahead in the revised form.
If you have a question about the scheme, please email: flood.team@nottscc.gov.uk
We will collate any queries that we receive and use these to draft some frequently asked questions, which will be published on our website in the coming weeks. We will provide a further update in a future edition of the Bramley once these have been published. If your enquiry is specific to your property, we will respond directly to you.
Nottinghamshire County Council
Nottinghamshire County Council updates on flood alleviation scheme
Flood project paused over heritage impact fears – Greig Watson, BBC News, East Midlands, Published, 30 August 2025
 The new flood barrier would have to be 60m (197ft) longer than originally planned A question mark has been put over the future of a flood defence scheme in Nottinghamshire due to its potential impact on an… Read more »
Southwell Flood Project – Clearance works
THE Southwell Flood Project includes the construction of an earth bund across Potwell Dyke, aligned in a west to east direction before extending southwards, and the provision of a control structure allowing the rate of water flow along the dyke to be restricted. This will ensure that homes downriver from the bund will be better… Read more »
Bramley article – March 2025 – Potwell Dyke allevation approved
Potwell Dyke flooding scheme approved It’s great news that the Potwell Dyke flood alleviation scheme has been approved after many years of planning and designing. The scheme will reduce flood risk to over 70 homes on Church Street, Easthorpe and downstream. During heavy rainfall, any overflow from the Potwell Dyke will be stored temporarily behind… Read more »
Potwell Dyke alleviation scheme – planning approved
Article in Newark Advertiser Flood defence to help protect 70 Southwell homes from flooding approved by Nottinghamshire County Council Up to 70 Southwell homes will get protection from flooding after plans to build a huge earth mound were approved. Nottinghamshire County Council’s planning committee met today (January 28) to discuss the plans. They involve creating… Read more »
Bramley news – Southwell Flood Mitigation drop in – Thursday 16th May – 14.00 to 18.00 – Southwell Library
Representatives from Nottinghamshire County Council, VIA East Midlands Ltd and other key agencies will be present for a Southwell Community Flood Mitigation drop in session on Thursday 16th May at Southwell Library. There will be an overview of the projects that have been completed on flood risk management in Southwell since the flood event in… Read more »
Storm Babet October 2023 Section 19 Flood Report by Nottinghamshire County Council
Following the Storm on 20th October 2023 in which about 11 houses in Southwell were internally flooded, Nottinghamshire County Council as the Lead Flood Authority is required to produce a Section 19 report “The objective of this report is to investigate which Risk Management Authorities had relevant flood risk management functions during the flooding in… Read more »
DEFRA consultation on storm overflows
Storm overflows are safety valves built into the combined sewer system to discharge excess sewage to rivers, lakes, or the sea when rainfall exceeds capacity. The deadline for comments is: 12th May 2022. The consultation website states: ‘Tackling storm overflows in England is a government priority. It is an issue which has received significant public… Read more »
Potwell Dyke attenuation scheme planning application
Newark Advertiser press release February 2022 Neil Clarke, Chairman of the Transport and Environment committee said: “I am pleased to confirm that the proposed Potwell Dyke attenuation scheme planning application has now been submitted. “If approved, the scheme will go a long way to holding back water during flood conditions – something which is much… Read more »
Southwell Flood Risk Management Project Update
WHILE works to finalise the design of the scheme at Potwell Dyke are ongoing, a number of different schemes are continuing to progress across Southwell.You may remember from previous editions that works on Church Street have been split into two stages, with the first completed in February.Phase two of this part of the scheme is… Read more »
