Scheme to protect town from floods will take years
ASCHEME to protect against a repeat of the flash flood in Barnstaple last summer which was Devon’s worst flooding incident in over a decade is likely to be at least two years away.
The torrential rain on August 17, 2020, left parts of the town under as much as 3ft of water, while traffic came to a standstill as flooding made the town impassable.
People from basement flats were rescued by fire crews, with several having been made temporarily homeless by the flooding, with more than 100 properties, including the town’s Queens Theatre having been damaged.
Barnstaple town centre and the Square were hit badly, and the A361 and the A39 were both blocked due to flooding, causing congestion on
the surrounding roads, as the incident, which was Devon’s worst flood event in a single location since 2010, saw 118 residential and 46 commercial properties flooded.
North Devon Council’s strategy and resources committee meeting on Monday, receiving a flood investigation report on the incident, heard that the flooding event was as a result of high intensity rainfall that was very localised over the town, and that it would not be until 2023 at the earliest that a prevention scheme would be in place.
Martin Hutchings, Devon County Council’s flood and coastal risk manager, added: “This created significant volumes of surface water that overwhelmed the drainage systems to the extent that they were unable to drain away effectively. Once the peak of the storm passed the systems were able to catch up and within a few hours the flood water had drained away, leaving much devastation behind.”
He said that the flooding didn’t occur in one single location and that they ‘cannot built a wall in one location to solve the problem’, but they were looking at what could be done to get a scheme developed, but that often it takes around five years for one to be implemented.
He added: “This is not because people are dragging their heels but this how long it takes to get everyone on board, but we are trying to get it done by 2022/23 and get it done sooner rather than later. We want to start looking at detailed designs and put them in place over the next couple of years, but if there are any quick wins, we will try and implement them as soon as we can.”
Mr Hutchings’ report added: “The flooding was a result of a very short duration, high intensity rainfall event, subsequently causing the local drainage network to be overwhelmed.” General actions recommended included reviewing highway gullies, for South West Water to continue a maintenance regime, to encourage sustainable drainage practices for new developments, and also for Devon County Council to continue to progress with the Barnstaple surface water investigation to consider preferred options,