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 a long barrier of a mound of earth on playing fields south of Church Street, to protect around 70 homes from flooding damage.
The plan was accepted unanimously by the committee.
Southwell has been hit by flash floods several times in recent years, with 14 homes being flooded during Storm Babet in October 2023.
The 250m-long earth mound will work by catching the run-off of water from Potwell Dyke on the site, protecting homes on Church Street, which has been flooded several times.
The site and the land nearby was previously home to the old Minster School buildings before it moved to Nottingham Road in 2007.
Works to build the mound may be prolonged due to the application site being designated as a scheduled ancient monument which holds the remains of a mid-second century Roman villa — one of the largest in the region.
Roman ancillary buildings were found when the former school site was excavated in 2012.
The entire footprint of the earth mound, which will be a maximum of 2.5m tall, will be excavated by archaeologists before it is built.
Philip Owen said: “Hopefully work [can] start this afternoon because that’s how urgent it should be.
“I wouldn’t want the possibility of a few Roman remains to stop this work… I hope we’re not going to let some perceived archaeology get in the way.”
Mike Adams added: “I suppose initially [earth mounds] look quite like a scar on the land when they’re first built because they are mud lumps but over time they do naturalise.
“[The Roman remains] shouldn’t get in the way of protecting people, whatever mitigation to ensure that’s the case will be taken.”
The works would reduce the flooding risk on nearby homes, where 36 properties will be protected from a one-in-75-year flooding event and the other 34 having reduced flood risks.
Sport England originally objected to the proposals on the grounds the old sports pitch where the mound would fall on could be brought back into use.
It has since assessed the quality of the other two pitches around the site and removed its objection on the basis works to the two pitches will “overcome the loss of [the] playing field”.
The mounds’ creation will impact three public footpaths across the site — these would be amended, such as adding steps to the mound.
The earth mound project is part of a wider scheme to alleviate flooding impacts in Southwell and reduce the flood risk to a total of 248 homes and 66 commercial properties.
Some of the works to alleviate flooding issues include improved drainage in Church Street and Halam Road and the regrading of a ditch and surface water works in northern Southwell.
The town suffered more than £9 million in damage after around 300 homes and businesses were flooded in 2013 — some residents could not return to their homes for more than a year.
Sitting in a valley, Southwell has several areas prone to flooding.
Youtube of Planning meeting – Flood Alleviation Report and supporting comments from 1.37