“Hands off our valleys”
The Environment Agency says it is considering a range of natural flood defence interventions for the Severn in a bid to reduce the impact of flooding down-river – including ripping out paved areas and replacing them with more permeable surfaces.
It says thousands of homes and businesses are at risk, particularly around the Shrewsbury area, but they are looking upstream to Montgomeryshire for solutions.
These include man-made dams and restored peat bogs to retain water in the hills and valleys of the Severn catchment areas, with a focus on retaining water up-stream and “slowing the flow” of water running into the river to reduce flood surges down-stream.
But last night, there was an angry response with Plaid Cymru’s General Election candidate for our area, Cllr Elwyn Vaughan, saying: “Let’s be clear – we’ve been here before with similar narrative.
“We’ve seen threats in the past to Llawryglyn, Dolanog, Dyffryn Ceiriog in 1923 and Cwm Twrch and more.
“Building new damns and drowning Welsh valleys yet again is not on and is not acceptable and has to be clearly understood from the beginning.
“Yes, help control water flow, yes have good management, and yes to stop building hundreds of houses in Shropshire and Herefordshire on flood-plains. But drowning our valleys is not acceptable and has to be ruled out.”
Residents in Shropshire and North Powys will run the rule over a long-term plan to reduce flooding on the river this month after the agency launched a consultation on its plans, set to run until May.
A document accompanying the proposals also outlines the use of temporary “flood water storage areas”, which reduce flooding downstream by capturing incoming flood flows and releasing them downstream at a slower, more controlled rate.
“As with most urban areas, there is a high proportion of impermeable paving throughout towns across the catchment,” the Environment Agency says.
“However, impermeable paving exacerbates flooding downstream, which leads to numerous economic and environmental problems; such as the diversion of polluted storm waters directly into nearby water bodies.
“De paving in areas with high proportions of concrete and asphalt can include measures such as the replacement of impermeable paving with permeable alternatives as well as complete removal of paved areas. This allows for greening and ground roughening with trees and plants.
“In areas like car parks, if we carefully consider only the areas strictly necessary for cars and pedestrian movement, we can de-pave the leftover spaces. This process is also applicable in public spaces and urban plazas.”
This consultation is being run by the Severn Valley Water Management Scheme (SVWMS), which is led by a partnership of the Environment Agency, Natural Resources Wales, Shropshire Council and Powys County Council.
The organisation says the scheme is being developed in response to significant flooding of the River Severn in recent decades which has damaged homes and businesses, impacted local infrastructure and disrupted travel.
David McKnight, Flood and Coastal Risk Manager at the Environment Agency said: “Delivering the SVWMS is a long-term solution to sustainable water management, and we are right at the beginning of a complex journey to achieve our vision.
“We want to hear from all areas of the Severn community as we embark on the transformation programme that the catchment needs to be able to adapt to our changing climate and continue to thrive.”
The consultation is available to view on the Environment Agency website, and runs until May 21.
With reporting from the Local Democracy Reporting Service.
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