Help Save Tewkesbury from Flooding
Help Save Tewkesbury from Flooding
The Issue
The above photograph was taken during the July 2007 flood of the Bredon Road, Tewkesbury, close to where the Carrant Brook flows into the River Avon. At the time, 5 miles upstream of Tewkesbury, where the Carrant Brook flows under (or over) the B4079 Bredon Road, about half a mile north of Aston Cross, the brook was perhaps 2 metres above its normal level and the flood plain was saturated. Further down stream the Brook diverges with a flow towards Morrisons and Newtown which also suffers badly in floods
Recently, I was reassured to read that the Environment Agency (EA) has initiated a program of work aimed at reducing flooding in Tewkesbury.
“Investigate the benefits of slowing the flow of tributaries into Tewkesbury and identify optimum locations for natural flood management measures and river restoration in the catchments of the Carrant Brook, Tirle Brook and River Swilgate … upstream of Tewkesbury.
“Between 2021 and 2027, the Environment Agency will investigate the benefits of slowing the flow of tributaries into Tewkesbury and identify optimum locations for natural flood management measures and river restoration in the catchments of the Carrant Brook, Tirle Brook and River Swilgate upstream of Tewkesbury, to inform future works to reduce flood risk and improve the environment in the Avon Warwickshire Management Catchment.”
That’s the good news: the bad news is that in the mind of the Planning Inspectorate, yet more houses need to be built in the Tewkesbury Borough.
The Interim Housing Position Statement from Tewkesbury Borough Council (TBC) in November 2023 acknowledged that the Council was unable to show five years’ worth of housing supply, as required by paragraph 74 of the National Planning Policy Framework. As a consequence planning applications will now be approved unless the adverse impacts “significantly and demonstrably” outweigh the benefits.
One criteria that would likely favour approval is if the development would be located in an area at lowest risk of flooding and not lead to increased flood risk elsewhere.
I maintain that building new homes in an area that could otherwise be used by the EA to reduce the risk of flooding in Tewkesbury, should carry similar adverse weight to increasing the risk of flooding elsewhere.
TBC is currently consulting on its proposal to build 10,000 new homes as part of the Garden Communities project in and around Ashchurch. The land being considered for these homes is within the catchment of the Carrant and Tirle Brooks and the River Swilgate, where the EA contemplate undertaking works to reduce the risk of flooding in Tewkesbury. House builders are aware of the opportunities arising from TBC’s predicament concerning the lack of 5 year’s worth of housing supply, and are acquiring rights to land and preparing applications to build more homes, ahead of the completion of TBC’s consultation.
The aim of this petition is to urge TBC to work with the EA with a view to identifying the land that the EA anticipates assessing and possibly utilising to reduce the risk of flooding, with a view to formally protecting that land from being built on until such time as the EA has completed their study and, if appropriate, released the land for potential development.
As the EA’s work will run beyond 2027, it is appropriate for the development embargo to be reflected in the Strategic and Local Plan.
The commitment of the EA to work towards reducing flooding in the local area is to be welcomed, and TBC should be doing everything possible to facilitate it. Please help make that possible by signing this petition.
Thank you.
The Issue
The above photograph was taken during the July 2007 flood of the Bredon Road, Tewkesbury, close to where the Carrant Brook flows into the River Avon. At the time, 5 miles upstream of Tewkesbury, where the Carrant Brook flows under (or over) the B4079 Bredon Road, about half a mile north of Aston Cross, the brook was perhaps 2 metres above its normal level and the flood plain was saturated. Further down stream the Brook diverges with a flow towards Morrisons and Newtown which also suffers badly in floods
Recently, I was reassured to read that the Environment Agency (EA) has initiated a program of work aimed at reducing flooding in Tewkesbury.
“Investigate the benefits of slowing the flow of tributaries into Tewkesbury and identify optimum locations for natural flood management measures and river restoration in the catchments of the Carrant Brook, Tirle Brook and River Swilgate … upstream of Tewkesbury.
“Between 2021 and 2027, the Environment Agency will investigate the benefits of slowing the flow of tributaries into Tewkesbury and identify optimum locations for natural flood management measures and river restoration in the catchments of the Carrant Brook, Tirle Brook and River Swilgate upstream of Tewkesbury, to inform future works to reduce flood risk and improve the environment in the Avon Warwickshire Management Catchment.”
That’s the good news: the bad news is that in the mind of the Planning Inspectorate, yet more houses need to be built in the Tewkesbury Borough.
The Interim Housing Position Statement from Tewkesbury Borough Council (TBC) in November 2023 acknowledged that the Council was unable to show five years’ worth of housing supply, as required by paragraph 74 of the National Planning Policy Framework. As a consequence planning applications will now be approved unless the adverse impacts “significantly and demonstrably” outweigh the benefits.
One criteria that would likely favour approval is if the development would be located in an area at lowest risk of flooding and not lead to increased flood risk elsewhere.
I maintain that building new homes in an area that could otherwise be used by the EA to reduce the risk of flooding in Tewkesbury, should carry similar adverse weight to increasing the risk of flooding elsewhere.
TBC is currently consulting on its proposal to build 10,000 new homes as part of the Garden Communities project in and around Ashchurch. The land being considered for these homes is within the catchment of the Carrant and Tirle Brooks and the River Swilgate, where the EA contemplate undertaking works to reduce the risk of flooding in Tewkesbury. House builders are aware of the opportunities arising from TBC’s predicament concerning the lack of 5 year’s worth of housing supply, and are acquiring rights to land and preparing applications to build more homes, ahead of the completion of TBC’s consultation.
The aim of this petition is to urge TBC to work with the EA with a view to identifying the land that the EA anticipates assessing and possibly utilising to reduce the risk of flooding, with a view to formally protecting that land from being built on until such time as the EA has completed their study and, if appropriate, released the land for potential development.
As the EA’s work will run beyond 2027, it is appropriate for the development embargo to be reflected in the Strategic and Local Plan.
The commitment of the EA to work towards reducing flooding in the local area is to be welcomed, and TBC should be doing everything possible to facilitate it. Please help make that possible by signing this petition.
Thank you.
Petition Closed
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Petition created on 5 February 2024