Posted & filed under Community Resilience, Events, Flood Mitigation, Potwell Dyke Flood Group.

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 October 2023 and whether the relevant RMAs have exercised, or propose to exercise, their risk management functions (as per section 19(1) of the Flood and Water Management Act 2010).”

You can read the full report here. southwell-s19-storm-babet-oct-2023

Summary of flooding and its causes

  1. Southwell has a history of flooding which ultimately led to Nottinghamshire County Council leading a £5m flood alleviation project for the catchment. Southwell sits in a natural valley surrounded by agricultural land and is served by a number of watercourses including the Potwell Dyke. Subsequently the catchment has several areas that are naturally prone to flooding.
  2. The Potwell Dyke runs through the centre of the town as shown on Figure 3 and runs underneath Church Street. During Storm Babet this area experienced flooding that manifested itself in a manner similar to previous flood events.
  3. The area has been identified as a key point for flooding and part of the £5m capital investment is to facilitate the construction of a storage reservoir upstream of the Church Street crossing and install property flood resilience on properties on Church Street. The reservoir and property flood resilience will reduce the risk and consequences of flooding in the area. The storage reservoir is currently in the feasibility stage with planning submission programmed for summer 2024.

There is a drop-in event to review the projects completed so far in the Southwell Flood Alleviation Scheme and see information on the Potwell Dyke Alleviation works.

Thursday 16th May 14.00 to 18.00 Southwell LIbrary