New defences considered at flood-hit village

NEW defences are being considered at a flood-hit Coventry village.

Two new schemes could be introduced in Allesley for spring 2021 to protect 38 houses from floods from the River Sherbourne.

The most vulnerable 14 properties in the village have a one in five chance of flooding each year, with neighbours in the village previously admitting “it is a constant worry every time it rains that you are going to get flooded”.

The village was hit with flooding problems in 2007, 2008, 2012, and 2016.

But the plan could again be dependent on funding as the exact measures - and the costs - have yet to be agreed.

The plans were unveiled at a public meeting held by Coventry City Council, the Environment Agency (EA) and Warwickshire Wildlife Trust on November 7. One element includes targeted property flood resilience on 31 houses.

Melanie Dinnis, project manager for the EA, said options include replacing doors, specialist air bricks which shut off when water enters, and non-return valves to stop water backing up the drain pipes and flooding homes.

Surveys will be carried out at each house to look at where water can get into the property, before agreement in spring 2020.

Measures would cost between £7,000 to £15,000 per property, Ms Dinnis told the Local Democracy Reporting Service, placing the cost at somewhere between £217,000 to £465,000.

“It depends on each individual property,” she said after the meeting.

She said measures would last for between 20 to 25 years, although admitted it “won’t give you 100 per cent protection”.

Another scheme includes diverting water through Browns Lane to protect seven properties, but measures have not been decided.

“Once the designs come we will look to see if it is something we can take forward as well as looking at the costs and the practicality of that,” Ms Dinnis said.

Residents were told ditch improvements works were introduced in the village in 2016, followed by pipe improvements in spring 2018, and natural flood management introduced this year at a cost of £150,000.

On-going works include creating ‘retention pools’ for flood water, and natural measures to slow the water down.

Previous plans have already had to be scrapped in Allesley due to money, including proposals for a storage pond in 2017 after costs shot up from £1.7m to £8.5m.